


Olympus’s Avenger

by eatyourhartout



Series: The Secret Avenger [1]
Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types, Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Avengers - Freeform, Canonical Alternate Universe, Crossover, Demigods, Light Angst, Olympus (Percy Jackson), Wings, canon pairings - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-22
Updated: 2018-04-22
Packaged: 2019-04-26 06:40:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 25
Words: 27,408
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14396433
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/eatyourhartout/pseuds/eatyourhartout
Summary: The Tesseract is missing.A rogue god is on the loose.Fury needs a response team.Who will join him?OC demigod character set during the Avengers movie.Post Giants WarMinor swearing





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I don’t own the Avengers or the Percy Jackson universe. I only own my OC. Comments are appreciated. :)

_Sy_

       When she saw who was at her door, she paled. Director Nick Fury of SHIELD was calling. The man always brought trouble. The kind that got people dead. Usually her.

       "No." Slamming the door in his face. Or rather she tried. The eyepatched wonder spy stopped the door with his foot. Sy almost winced in sympathy. She was an expert door slammer. Then she remembered what had happened the last time she let that man into her home. Then she wished she could slam the door on his foot again.

       "Syrinx, the world is at stake." Fury said, pushing his way inside. He found himself with a mortal knife at his throat. Ever since she became involved with SHIELD, she was prepared for mortal threats. It was disgusting. Didn't she have enough problems without mortals trying to kill her too?

       "You should know better than to come by here anymore." She snarled at him.

       "And I wouldn't have come if it wasn't important. This is end of the world big. This threat is different than anything SHIELD is equipped for. I need someone like you." She snorted. Sure. A seventeen year old demigod daughter of Calliope, the Muse of Eloquence and Epic Poetry. Real useful when the world is ending.

       "Look, just because I'm the point of contact between Olympus and you doesn't mean I'm going to let you drag me into some mortal mess you don't know how to deal with. The deal is I tell you about godly messes if they affect you. Nothing more. I'm a demigod, I don't do terrorists."

 _'Especially after the last time I worked with SHIELD.'_  She added silently.

       "That's exactly why we need you. The threat is someone called Loki. Long time ago, we used to call him the god of mischief." Her heart stopped. Loki. A god. Or something that was close enough. This is exactly what she was in place to deal with. Sy groaned. She took the manila case file he handed her. Classified was stamped in bright red ink on the top corner of the file, like a cliche spy movie thriller. Inside the file she begins to skim through the details of Fury's team, and the one member she is being sent to recruit to join. Sy freezes when she reaches the name. She glares at the one eyed spymaster.

       "This is the last favor I do for you Fury."


	2. Chapter 2

_Sy_

       She leaned against the doorway of the gym. At least the first assignment was relatively easy, even if it was outside her job description. She had a feeling that this was the Director's way of testing her commitment to the team. Fury was calling in all sorts of _'unique individuals'_ to help fight his war. And this man, well he was the ultimate mortal soldier. And it was Sy's job to convince him to come help fight the new big bad. 

       Steve Rogers hadn't noticed her, simply pounding away at the punching bag in front of him. She didn't flinch when he broke the bag, and she kept waiting even when he hooked up a new one. But when he still hadn't taken in his surroundings, beginning to pound away at the new bag instead, she stepped forward.

       "Having trouble sleeping?" Sy asked. She kept her voice neutral, pulling the it's usual musical quality out of it. This man, like her, had fought a long war. This choice will be his, and his alone, without the influence of her compulsion to soften his will. Sy refused to do it any other way no matter what Fury wanted from her. Steve Rogers hardly looked up even as she crossed the room towards him on silent feet.

       "I slept for 70 years ma'am. Uh, Miss." He paused for a moment , thrown by how young she was. After a beat he continued.

       "I think I've had my fill." She steadied the bag for him. He looked at her briefly before continuing to pound at the bag. Sy was unfazed by the amount of force he was putting into his blows, but also aware that he'd reigned in his strength. Curious blue eyes move away from his fists to meet hers. 

       "If you don't mind my asking, but who are you?"

       "Director Fury called in a few favors to get me here. I've been, c _ompelled_ , into representing the director tonight. And if you don't mind my asking, why are you in here? You could be out celebrating. You've done the one thing everyone always seems to want; see the future. You could be out there, seeing the world." He stepped away from the bag, unravelling the tape from his hands. The man had snorted softly at her clear distaste for Fury.

       "When I went under, the world was at war. When I woke up they said we won. They never told me what we lost." Sy nodded. She understood what he meant. There was always a price to be paid, even for the winning side. And sometimes that price is hard to see until it comes time to pay. 

       "Well, the world has been making its' mistakes. Some very recently. That's why I'm here Mr. Rogers." He dropped his things into his bag and looked up at her.

       "So you're here with a mission miss? Fury trying to get me back into the world?" He asked sardonically. Sy snorted.

       "Actually, he's trying to save it." She followed the soldier over to his duffle bag, left on a bench nearby.

       "This time." She added under her breath softly. She ignored the curious look she got for her last comment as she passed the super soldier a manila file on the Tesseract. She sat on the bench next to Steve Rogers while he looked over the file.

       "HYDRA's secret weapon." He said plainly. She fidgeted nervously at the name of the mythical monster. She may be the child of a minor goddess, but names still have power. She hoped she wouldn't have to kill a monster tonight. Especially that one. Kayla, a daughter of Demeter, has a nasty scar on her side from the acid of one during the Giant War. Bye bye bikinis on public beaches.

       "Howard Stark fished that out of the ocean when he was looking for you. He thought, what SHIELD thinks, is that the tesseract could be the key to unlimited sustainable energy. That's something the world sorely needs." She felt stupid, parroting propaganda while she could literally taste the lies Fury had fed her. But that was what she had been told, and she had no proof of the truth, whatever it may be, so that was what she said.

       "Who took it from them?" He asked. Syrinx sighed. Steve Rogers, a catholic from the 1940's, would _not_ take the gods conversation well. She purses her lips, before answering carefully.

       "His name is Loki. He's, well, he's not really from around here. At least not anymore." She stood up, brushing non-existent dirt from her jeans.

       "There is a lot to catch up on, if you decide to come. Your world has learned quite a few new things, strange things, since you went under." Steve gave her a small smile.

       "I doubt things can get any stranger than they already have." Sy gave him a wry look, raising her eyebrow.

       "Fury said you would say that. He also said to bet you ten dollars you're wrong. My advice? Don't take it." The super soldier stood up, taking his duffle bag with him. She knew he was taking Fury's bet.

_'Men.'_

       "There is a debriefing packet in your apartment." The man lifted the punching bag down from it's hook. Sy was suddenly inspired.

_'Thank you Mom. Or Auntie.' She offered her prayer to which ever muse had helped her._

       "Anything I should know about that weapon?" She called after him. The grim reply made her heart sink.

       "They should have left it in the ocean."


	3. Chapter 3

_Sy_

       She sighed as she stepped off the small plane.

_'Fury called it a quinjet? Doesn't matter.'_

       Syrinx shrugged to herself as she tried to keep pace with the man in question while looking around the busy carrier deck. Taking a deep breath, the smell of the ocean breeze relaxed her tense body.

       She _really_ did not want to be involved in _another_ world ending disaster. And it wasn't even like she did that much in the last couple of wars. She wasn't important to the prophecies. She was a foot soldier. Nothing more. She didn't even enjoy fighting that much. Sure she was good at it, dedication was important to artists. And her mother always expects perfection from her children. It was why she was such a good musician. And a good swordswoman. But at the end of the day, she is a musician, an artist. A muse on Earth.

       Syrinx gently lifted up her bag. Inside was her sword, but more importantly her instruments. She was the most powerful child of Calliope since Orpheus. And her half brother had nearly managed to sing his wife back to life. Her music could soothe minds, inspire hatred and enchant the heart. She could control the elements themselves, her music was so persuasive. She tried not to, it was disruptive and exhausting to use powers that weren't really her own, but sometimes she had no choice.

       While she crossed the deck towards the bridge, a familiar face approached. The Black Widow was going to greet a second jet that was touching down behind her.

       "Hi Nat." She said quietly. They hadn't spoken to each other since her relationship with Fury had gone south, and they hadn't really been friends to begin with. 

       "Sy. How have you been?" The response was a little stiff, but that was to be expected. The last time they'd seen each other she had threatened to castrate the director. And she'd broken Clint Barton's nose. Sy shrugged.

       "Could be better. Third apocalypse in as many years. College acceptances are starting to come in though, and I have another concert coming up. I think Fury nearly had a coronary when I refused to skip it. You?" Natasha gave Sy a sideways look.

       "Classified. Unless you're staying?" Syrinx let out a bitter laugh.

       "Yep. Special favor for the director." She said, spreading her arms with a casual shrug. The jet touched down behind her. The assassin gave her another curt nod, but before she walked away Sy noticed her eyes had softened. A small smile curled over her face, even as Sy hurried to catch up with the director.

_'Progress.'_


	4. Chapter 4

_Sy_

       She sat in a swivel chair, gently swinging herself from side to side as she tuned her violin. Just because she was going to help fight a god, doesn't mean she should stop practicing. Especially with that concert her mother told her to play at in Germany coming up. She hardly glanced up as she heard the heavy engines change their rumble as they lifted into the air. The doors behind her swung open, admitting what sounded like three people, but in such a busy room she couldn't really tell.

       She was a little out of practice with the more practical aspect of her enhanced hearing. Since the war, she didn't have as much reason to train her sensitive ears for anything but out of tune notes. And if she was honest, listening to her surroundings less helped to keep her anxiety down. Fake it till you make it right?

       Steve Rogers crossed the room in front of her, a look of amazement on his face. She saw a rather nervous looking man retreat away from the busy agents. Bruce Banner, she identified, remembering the debriefing packet. Also known as the Hulk.

       Maria Hill reported that they were level from her station. Fury looked at her before saying, 

       "Good let's vanish." He turned around to look at the newcomers. Sy smirked at Steve as he approached the SHIELD director. The super soldier just shook his head slightly, the look of amazement firmly on his face.

       "Gentleman." Steve handed the director some cash. Fury and her exchanged a glance. She shrugged. Well, she did try to warn the man. She quietly tuned her violin as Steve continued to explore the bridge. She plucked out a soft scale before bringing her bow to the strings, watching as Fury approached Banner.

       "Doctor thank you for coming." She swiveled in her seat the watch the interaction, her hands steady as they continued to play. Banner hesitated before shaking the director's hand.

       "Thanks for asking nicely." Sy rolled her eyes at that statement before placing the instrument under her chin. She doubted Fury was capable of asking nicely. She tuned out their conversation as she gently dragged the bow across the strings. Her fingers fluttered across the neck of her instrument as she strung random notes together, not paying much attention to what she played.

       "We're sweeping every wirelessly available camera we can find. Cell phones, laptops. If it's connected to a satellite, it's eyes and ears for us." Coulson's voice rang out strongly over her quiet playing.

       "That's rude. Stay out of my tech." Sy muttered sarcastically, not that she had any. Even children of minor gods avoided technology. It was _always_ a bad idea. Too many monsters. Even being on the massive helicarrier was a major risk for her. Sy refocused on her music, the sweet notes soothing her nerves. She really didn't want to be attacked by a monster, especially in front of so many mortals. Who knew what would happen? 

       Her fingers flew, keeping pace with the song she was playing. She looked at Natasha crouching next to a monitor, one with Agent Barton's face on it. She felt a flash of pity, remembering when she had to fight against people who she thought were friends. At least with Clint, it's because of magic, not because of a decision they made for themselves. Her music changed, the inflection and tone adjusting to her mood, a tired and angry tune pouring from the strings. She quickly put the violin down. No sense in accidentally influencing everyone else's emotions.

       "That still won't find them in time." The assassin said. Sy plucked nervously at the strings of the instrument in her lap.

       "We need to narrow the field. How many spectrometers do you have access too?" Banner asked as he removed his coat. It seemed when he was asked for his expertise the timidity she had noticed earlier melted away. Fury gave him a look.

       "How many are there?" He asked, crossing his arms. The doctor folded his coat over his arm.

       "Call every lab you know, have them tell them to put their spectrometers on the roof and calibrate them to gamma rays. I'll rough out a tracking algorithm, basic cluster recognition. At least we can rule out a few places. You got somewhere for me to work?" Fury gestured to Natasha and Sy. She rolled her eyes even as she got to her feet. Sitting in the bridge playing music would be no different than sitting in a lab and playing music.

       "Agent Romanoff, Miss. Melos. Show Dr. Banner to his laboratory please." The redhead lead them all away. Sy rolled her eyes as she followed Natasha. She'd never been on the helicarrier before, she didn't know where she was going.

       "You're gonna love it doc. We've got all the toys." Natasha said. Sy rolled her eyes again. At this rate, she should just make a video of her doing than and just play it on a loop.

       "Hi, I'm Sy. Nice to meet you." She said as she cradled her instrument. The doctor looked a little surprised.

       "Bruce. Aren't you a little young to be here?" She smirked.

       "I'm here as a special favor to the director. I'm an... expert you could say, in Asgard and other mythos, which happens to include our friend in green, Loki." The scientist nodded before they dropped into an uncomfortable silence.


	5. Chapter 5

_Steve_

       "If you don't mind?" Coulson asked. He felt uncomfortable. He hadn't joined the army for the fame, and ever since he stopped the silly shows he did in the beginning of his army career he'd never liked attention. He'd had enough of being a dancing monkey.

       "Oh, no. Not at all." He managed to say, avoiding looking at the man.

       "They're vintage. Took me awhile to collect them all. Near mint, slight boxing around the edges but..." Thankfully one of the other agents interrupted.

       "We've got a hit. 67 percent match, wait, cross match. 79 percent." Coulson snapped back to professionalism, even as Steve felt something inside him sink with concern. Something bad was going to happen. He could feel it. 

       "Location?"

       "Stuttgart, Germany. 28 Konigresse." He reported. Fury looked worried.

       "Sir, isn't that where Syrinx..." Coulson asked. Steve was confused, Syrinx? Fury read his expression.

       "Syrinx Melos. The girl who recruited you for me. Not only is she our resident expert in Asgard, but is she is also a talented musician. It, runs in her family. She's playing at a gala there tonight. A condition for her to help us with Loki." Steve straightened.  He'd seen her file, not that it had contained much, but the girl was seventeen years old. Nowhere near old enough to be involved with the mission, let alone in the field. He'd had a hard time with her being on board the helicarrier at all, until Coulson assured him it was strictly in a consulting capacity. She had interacted with things like the threat before. It bothered him but he'd sucked it up. It wasn't like a lot of the boys he'd known in his army days were all that much older; and those were the ones who didn't lie about their age. But now it was different. The girl was hardly an adult, and now the threat, who had _single handedly_ sunk a SHIELD facility into a massive crater, was at her location. Steve felt his nerves resolve, posture straightening into military precision. There was no way he was going to let her get hurt, or worse. 

       Fury gave him a hard glance.

       "Captain. You're up."


	6. Chapter 6

_Sy_

       She swept her hair off her shoulder as she prepared to play. The gala was beautiful, with glittering jewels dripping from the women, men in sharp suits and expensive watched and the soft murmur of conversation was a vibrant buzz beneath the music. She wasn't sure why her mother had asked her to play there tonight, but she wasn't about to refuse a goddess, even if she was just a muse. Sy herself was proof that just because her mom wasn't a major goddess, didn't mean she was any less powerful. Besides, she loved playing for others. And she got to annoy Fury. Really, it was a win-win for her.

       She lost herself to the music, the notes for Franz Schubert's No. 13 in A minor "Rosamunde" flowing sweetly from her instrument. Sy closed her eyes as she swayed with the music, floating away on a cloud of sound.

       Suddenly, the small silver bracelet on her wrist vibrated slightly; a warning. It was a compromise she'd made with Fury before going to the concert. It was so low tech, that it shouldn't alert monsters to her location. Perk of being the kid of a minor goddess. The bracelet would vibrate if there was trouble. An early warning from Fury in case of emergency. 

      Her eyes snapped open, every sense on alert. No way Fury would activate that alarm unless it was dire, they weren't sure that even that small bracelet wouldn't bring monsters to her location. She scanned the crowd carefully, reaching out with every instinct she had to try and figure out what was wrong. Then she glanced up at the stairs. Her fingers slipped, and her bow arm stuttered.

       Loki was  _here_. And she was as unarmed as a demigod gets. Meaning all she had was her violin, and her musical magic. But that kind of magic took time to be really effective, time she doubted she had. Especially when she hadn't trained her music for combat in so long. Really it was mistake to let herself go, but with the Romans as allies and three full months of peace and no trouble had let her grow complacent. 

       She continued to play, the rough notes growling out even as she warily watched the god, biding her time. She slowly began to weave power into her music, as subtly as she could. Loki would be a more difficult target than most, being a god of trickery; her personal brand of suggestion wouldn't be as persuasive. She prayed to her mother and to Apollo for help as Sy she wove her magic into the tune, the notes hypnotically suggesting nonviolence, peace and calm. But she also added in an element of caution, setting the mortals on edge, making them more alert. It wasn't enough.

       The god surged into a violent stroke of movement; like a snake, striking quickly and with no warning. As he attacked, grabbing a man by the throat, Sy surged into action. She dropped her violin - which was a shame, she really liked this one - and tackled the god away from the mortal man. The crowd screamed, released from her music, and stampeded as she grappled with the much taller immortal. She managed to punch him in the face even as he flipped her body under his.She saw out the corner of her eye the mortal man he had attacked scrambling away, sprinting for an exit. The god took advantage of her momentary distraction, slamming her head into the floor hard. She clawed at his face and smashed her elbow into his ear. He retaliated by punching her in the head before slamming her head against the ground a second time. 

_'Thank the gods for demigod genes.'_ She thought, slightly dazed.

       Wrenching her body around, she took advantage of a small gap between their bodies and shoved her knee into his groin before she flipped them again, reversing their positions. Unfortunately, her victory did not last. The god snarled and threw her off of him in a surge of power.

       She slammed into a stone column and her head snapped back, hitting the marble with an audible crack. She watched through dazed eyes as Loki caught the mortal he'd originally attacked and stabbed something into a man's eye. She was forced to listen through her superior ears the mortal's agonized screams as she tried to stand again. Sy staggered to her feet, reaching for the warmth of her power. Now that she didn't have the other musicians to work around, maybe she could... but the pounding of her head was distracting. Reaching up, she felt a sticky warmth. Blood.

_'Oh. Oops.'_

       Sy managed to follow the panicked crowd outside, determined not to lose Loki. The god had changed into golden armour. Sy was not impressed. He looked like an idiot. She'd seen more stylish armor on demigods playing Capture the Flag. Loki just looked like a glorified beetle. She winced and put a hand to her temple. As soon as she got back to the helicarrier, she was going to need ambrosia. She staggered out of the hall, following the wayward god.

* * *

       Loki used his staff to blast a police car.

       "Kneel before me." He ordered. Syrinx growled. She would not kneel to a trespassing, slightly anemic, conqueror wanna be. Several illusions of the god appeared around the edges of the terrified crowd. No one complied with his order, and Sy didn't stop the small smirk from crossing her face. 

       "I SAID KNEEL!" He roared, slamming the spear in his hand into the ground, cracking the concrete. The mortals, understandably frightened, knelt. A woman yanked Sy down with her, fear written across her face. She appreciated the gesture, but she would not remain bowed to the foreign trickster god. The god smirked, and began to slowly walk through the crowd.

       "Is this not simpler? Is this not your natural state? It's the unspoken truth of humanity that you crave subjugation. The bright lure of freedom diminishes your life's joy in a mad scramble for power. For identity. You were made to be ruled. In the end, you will always kneel." She had heard enough. Syrinx stood up, gently pulling her arm from the good samaritan's grip.

       "Not to men like you." She said quietly, letting the power of her suggestion ripple out. The crowd murmured in agreement. Her voice wasn't as powerful as her music, but it would do. At least, it would with mortals.

       "There are no men like me." The god insisted. She rolled her eyes, ignoring the throbbing pain the motion triggered in her head.

       "There are  _always_  men like you." She laughed, sending out another ripple of suggestion. The crowd shifted, agreeing with her, defiance brewing. The god frowned at Sy, before a look of understanding crossed his face.

       "Ah. You have some power don't you little girl?" He murmured as he approached. Sy stood her ground, head held high. She was dizzy and nauseous, but she still had a few tricks up her sleeve. She slapped away a hand that reached for her face. An irritated expression crossed his and he stepped back, aiming the weapon squarely at her chest. 

       "Look to your youth people. Let her be an example." His staff began to glow and Sy tensed, ready to move. But she heard a slight whistle in the air.

_'Oh good. Back up.'_ She thought faintly. 

       Syrinx began to hum a hymn to her mother, gathering power in her song. The blue light blasted towards her but just before it killed her, a familiar looking man landed in front of her, shield in front of them both. The blast rebounded onto the god, shoving him back.

       "You know the last time I was in Germany, and saw a man standing above everybody else, we ended up disagreeing." Steve quipped. Sy hummed a little louder, calming the crowd with her music.

       "Move. Quietly." She hummed. The people around her obeyed instantly, their mortal minds vulnerable to her suggestion.

       "The soldier." Loki spat out scornfully. Sy turned her attention back to the god. She hummed a little louder, pouring her intention into the music, hypnotic and slow. The mortals began to back away in increments, so slowly it was unnoticeable. She then heard a quiet engine.

       A quinjet.

_'More back up. Good.'_  She thought as Sy began to sway on her feet, her powers draining her more quickly than usual. The concussion she'd sustained was _really_ getting in the way of things.

       "Loki, drop the weapon and stand down." Natasha's voice came out over the loudspeaker. Loki scoffed and shot more of the blue energy at the quinjet. Sy resisted the urge to clutch her head at the slight feedback she detected as the jet rolled out of the way. Her concussion was  _highly_  inconvenient.

       Steve threw his shield at Loki and dove straight into the fight. Panic and chaos followed immediately.

_'Good thing Loki is of Asgard rather than Olympus; Even my mom has more power in her pinky finger than that fool has in his whole body.'_  Sy thought absentmindedly before singing a clarion note, sweet and pure, the crowd instantly calming. They began to move away from the fight in a much more organized way. It wouldn't do to have a civilian trampled now would it? Sy backed up as she analyzed the fight, trying to decide where she might be helpful. The problem was, she had no real weapons, and her voice would only serve to confuse them both. Steve doesn't understand her abilities, and wouldn't be able to fight around her suggestion.

       Suddenly Steve was on his knees, Loki's staff pressed against his head.

       "Kneel." Loki ordered.

       "Not today." Sy muttered, she searched for any inspiration nearby and found that a certain genius was flying closer. She soaked in his brilliance, really an amazing mortal. There was a camp rumor that he was an Athena legacy, but nobody could prove it. She inhaled and wrapped the inspiration tightly within her before releasing it, blasting the god with energy just as Steve leapt up to kick Loki in the head. They continued to fight but Syrinx was done. Her energy was drained from the concert and the fight and the use of her powers for things outside her mother's gifts. It was quite a lot for one night, and she was a little rusty after she stopped training year round. Sy just couldn't stand to be at camp so much after the wars.

       Suddenly the PA system crackled, the sound of the feedback making Sy's pounding headache even worse. AC/DC's Shoot to Thrill blasted from the speakers.

       Ironman swooped out of the sky, blasting the god with the real thing, not her weaker inspiration built blast. Loki was blasted back several feet as Ironman landed. His suit opened up, revealing dozens of rockets, all aimed at the god. Syrinx snorted. Those would hurt for sure, but not kill; she doubted they would even incapacitate.

       "Make your move Reindeer Games." A voice said through the mask. Syrinx staggered to her feet and stood beside Captain America and Ironman as Loki raised his hands in surrender. Sy frowned. That was too easy. Especially for a god. Those rockets wouldn't do much to him at all.

       "Good move." The rockets went away.

       "Mr. Stark." Steve acknowledged the billionaire. Sy swayed lightly on her feet.

       "Capitan. I don't know you." Tony Stark turned to her. Syrinx wasn't paying attention anymore. Her head was spinning and it felt as though she just had a reenactment of the Battle of Manhattan march across her skull.

       "I don't feel so good." She muttered before crumpling to the pavement.


	7. Chapter 7

_Sy_

       She woke up to Fury's voice crackling over the radio.

       "He say anything?"

       "Not a word." Natasha responded.

       "Syrinx?" He asked. Sy raised her arm to wave at Natasha as she pulled herself to her feet.

       "Awake."

       "Good. Get here as quickly as you can. We're low on time." Fury signed off and Sy swayed lightly.

       "Whoa. You should sit back down. I saw that footage while we were flying, you took a pounding in there." Came a quiet voice, a warm hand resting on her shoulder. Sy shrugged off Steve as she ducked into the cockpit.

       "My kit?" She asked. Nat shrugged at her.

       "Helicarrier. You're rusty." Syrinx growled.

       "I don't like fighting anymore." Nat shrugged at her.

       "Training is still important." Sy tried to roll her eyes but her head throbbed too much to bother. At least her little nap seemed to help her energy levels. As soon as she got her hands onto an instrument or some ambrosia or nectar she'd be fine. She listened to the two older men discuss how easy it was to capture Loki. But it was mostly Tony Stark ribbing Steve.

       "You might have missed a couple things, you know. Doing time as a Capsicle." Steve just looked irritated. Sy would smack Tony but she didn't think either man would appreciate her interference. He glared at Tony.

       "You know Fury didn't tell me he was calling you in." Tony sounded almost bored as he flicked his eyes away briefly before responding.

       "Yeah, there's a lot of things Fury doesn't tell you." He turned to Sy who was leaning against the wall of the quinjet.

       "For example, who are you?" Tony asked her.

       "Someone Fury didn't tell you about." She snarked. Tony frowned.

       "No really, who are you? Why are you here? Why did Fury care about us retrieving you, what do you do? Does SHIELD recruit minors now? Are you his secret love child, niece, mini assassin, what? Why does the director care about  _you?_ " Sy ignored him as she looked at Loki. She almost pitied him, if she wasn't so suspicious of how easily he'd been captured. If there was anything she knew about the politics of immortal gods, was that Loki probably got the short end of the stick in his immortal life. Not that it made any of his choices ok. She remembered fighting with old cabin mates who'd never been claimed. Gods, as a rule; sucked.

       Loki flinched as the storm they were flying through intensified; lighting flashing brightly and thunder booming. Sy frowned.

_'Please, Lord Zeus, grant us safe passage.'_  She prayed. Then her eyes widened. Loki. Immortal politics.  _Styx_. 

       The storm wasn't Zeus.

       "What's the matter, scared of a little lighting?" Steve asked, rather condescendingly.

       "Oh shit." She breathed as Loki responded. She reached for her side, looking for a sword that wasn't there.

       "I am not overly fond of what follows." He said as he looked round. Thunder rumbled all around them just as a hard thump sounded from the roof of the jet.

       "Thor." She said as Tony opened the cargo door. Sy grabbed at the rails so she wouldn't fall. She would rather not reveal her best kept secret tonight.

       "What are you doing?" Steve shouted at Stark. Just then a loud crash of lightning flashed and a tall man landed on the gangway. His long blonde hair whipped in the wind. He slammed his hammer into Stark, sending him flying into Steve and Sy, before he tore Loki from the chains binding him to the seat.

_"Thor Odinson! Stop!"_  She shouted in old Norse, struggling out from under the two men, but it was too late. The two gods had flown away into the stormy night. She rounded furiously on Tony Stark, the idiot who had lowered the door, which made it  _that much easier_  for Thor to get in.

       "Now there's that guy." The billionaire muttered as he brushed her off, moving to the open door.

       "He's another Asgardian. That's Thor, Norse god of thunder." Sy shouted over the wind.

       "Think he's a friendly?" Steve asked her. Tony interrupted.

       "Doesn't matter. If he frees Loki, or kills him, the Tesseract is lost." Tony marched away. Sy staggered to her feet, slowly pulling off her jacket.

       "Stark we need a plan of attack!" Steve insisted. Tony didn't turn around.

       "I have a plan. Attack." And he jumped out of the plane. Sy rolled her eyes as she struggled with her clothing while fighting the wind. Steve growled and strode to the door, grabbing a parachute.

       "I'd sit this one out. These guys come from legend, they're basically gods." Natasha warned. Syrinx rolled her eyes. They  _are_  gods. Just not as powerful as  _her_  gods.

       "There is only one god ma'am. And I'm pretty sure he doesn't dress like that." Steve said before jumping out himself. Syrinx frowned. She was tempted to correct him, if only to prevent him from getting blasted by Zeus. Even if he was right; not even the fussy Lord of the Sky really bothered with chitons or robes anymore, favoring dark pinstriped suits instead. Syrinx sighed.

       "I better go make sure the boys don't kill each other. Or let Loki escape while they measure their dicks." Natasha glanced at her.

       "You sure?" Syrinx stepped to the edge of the ramp, glancing down to see the flashes of light that were the men fighting each other. She groaned in irritation.

       "Yeah." And with that Syrinx let go of the railing, letting wind rip her away from the quinjet. She reveled in the sensation of her free fall before she snapped out the ace up her sleeve.

 

       Her wings.


	8. Chapter 8

_Sy_

       She soared down to the mountain Loki was left on, choosing to completely ignore the three idiots fighting in the forest. She landed lightly on her toes, her large wings folding neatly against her back as she stepped forward, moving carefully. She didn't want to fight the god again, her hair still sticky with blood and her head still pounding with the concussion she'd received. She held a set of celestial bronze chains in her right hand, held slightly behind her leg. Similar to the net Hephaestus once caught his wife and Ares in, it was strong enough to hold a god.

_"Come Loki Odinson. You will speak to the mortals for your crimes against them. Then you will stand before Lord Zeus who will decide your fate for trespassing in our realm."_  She spoke in old Norse as she clasped one end around his wrist easily. An uneasy feeling churned in her gut as the god  _allowed her_  to recapture him. Loki looked at her in surprise as she locked the other manacle around his wrist.

_"You speak the old language?"_  Syrinx snorted as she heaved her heavy cargo into the air. She wasn't naive enough to believe that the god was injured or tired or surprised into getting caught again. Which felt decidedly un-clever for a trickster god.

_"I am a half-blood. I speak many of the old languages."_  She flew higher as he switched to English.

       "A godling serving mortals? Join me, and we can overthrow them, remove the Mist from their eyes and return to the days of glory, where heroes and gods alike were worshipped." Syrinx didn't spare him a second glance as she flapped her wings, fighting against the wind. Her headache was awful. But even around her headache, something about the whole situation felt off to her. Something wasn't right.

       "I do not serve mortals. I serve Lord Zeus as the bridge between Olympus and a select few mortals whom we have allowed knowledge of the gods. And I have no use for world domination." Suddenly a shock wave slammed into her from beneath. She let out a choked cry as her wings folded involuntarily, and they began to drop from the sky. Her wings wrapped around them both protectively, bringing the god uncomfortably close to her. Close enough for her to see his bright blue eyes. She struggled to reorient herself, but her head pounded and her vision blurred. The extra blow to her head was going to be the death of her.

       As they fell she heard a slight whooshing sound, and Sy recognized in the back of her agonized brain that Natasha had brought the quinjet to her. Loki's eyes flashed green and he muttered something, but her head was too foggy to understand his words.

       A sudden burst of energy allowed her to unfurl her wings enough to catch an updraft, and glide (crash) into the plane. Sy managed to pull her wings in all the way before they landed, making sure that they wouldn't get injured. She crashed into the gangway with Loki still held tightly against her, the chains she'd locked him in securely wrapped around her wrist. The two of them tumbled over each other, the momentum of the rough landing stopping only when she hit the wall of the cockpit. She let go of the god, and the copilot dragged the god of mischief away from her. She saw a blur of red as the Black Widow leaned back to look at her from the drivers seat.

       "Nat. Remind me to kill all three of those idiots when I'm better." She muttered. Sy passed out before she got a response.


	9. Chapter 9

_Fury_

       "How is she?" He asked. Despite her rather intense dislike of him, Fury himself actually _liked_ Syrinx. The ferocious seventeen year old had gotten under his skin, and he had made several mistakes regarding her trust in him and in SHIELD. The girl had saved his life, and protected his organization, more than once and now she was laying pale and still on an infirmary bed, an IV drip in her arm after he had convinced her to work with them again. 

       Natasha had carried her in from the jet, not allowing any of the three men who had caused her to black out a second time touch her. Fury approved of that action. If not for Syrinx, Loki might have gotten away while Thor, Rogers and Stark fought in that forest.

       "She'll be fine. I don't quite understand what happened, but I think she overexerted herself and she has a severe concussion. Give her a few hours and she'll be awake. But she won't be ready to do much of anything for a few weeks." The doctor informed him before leaving them alone. Fury sighed as he thought about the surveillance footage he'd watched of her fighting at the gala in Stuttgart.

       The foolish girl had tackled the god, trying to protect a civilian. But she had been dressed for a concert, and the long dress had gotten in her way. The asgardian had slammed her around quite a bit before he left her alone. She'd sustained a serious concussion. Then when Thor, Stark and Rogers were fighting each other, Syrinx had made sure Loki didn't escape. He'd seen the blurry and damaged footage of her flying, before methodically removing every trace of it. He hadn't known about the wings. Not that he blamed her for hiding those from him. Especially after last time. But then in the shockwave of energy from Thor and Rogers fighting, she'd nearly been blown out of the air.

       Fury fished out the small vial of nectar he had taken from her bag. He was sorely tempted to take a sample, but he remembered what had happened the last time he had done that. Instead, he uncorked it and began to carefully pour it into her mouth. She'd always warned him that to much would cause her to spontaneously combust, so he only gave her a few mouthfuls. The color returned to her cheeks and a minute later her eyes opened.

       "What in  _Hades_  were Stark and Rogers thinking?" Fury couldn't help but snort at the first words out of her mouth.

       "Better Syrinx?" He asked gruffly. The demigod sat up and swung her legs off the bed.

       "Just peachy. I'll be fine in a couple of minutes." Fury stood up, handing the vial back to her.

       "When were you going to mention your wings?" He asked her. Syrinx groaned.

       "Wasn't planning on it. They're a bit new. A gift they called it. But really, I think they were trying to help after you... well you remember." Fury did remember. He felt something inside him, almost like guilt.

       "I'd like to see them." He said. She shrugged.

       "Someday, I just might show you." He took the small peace offering.


	10. Chapter 10

_Sy_

       She opened the door, quietly joining Steve Rogers, Thor, Bruce and Nat at the table.

       "Are you well?" Thor asked her. Syrinx nodded shortly. Nat gives her a curious look that she ignores. She doesn't want to discuss her wings right now. Or how she was miraculously fine after the beating she took. Sy didn't have a choice with Fury; but the others didn't need to know about the gods. She turned to the video screen to watch Nick Fury interrogate Loki.

       "In case it's unclear, you try to escape, you so much as scratch that glass." Fury pushed a button, opening the door beneath the glass cage they had placed the god into. Fury shouted to be heard over the rush of wind.

       "Thirty thousand feet, straight down in a steel trap. You get how that works?" He pressed another button. The door closed.

       "Ant" He pointed at Loki. "Boot." Pointed at the console.

       "It is an impressive cage." Loki smiles. "Not built, I think, for me." He taunted.

       "Built for something a lot stronger than you." He replied. Sy frowned at Loki only smiled wider. She scrutinized the foreign god. Her mind was still a little fuzzy from her previous concussion, but she could have sworn that the god had green eyes, not icy blues.

       "Oh, I've heard. The mindless beast, makes play to be a man. How _desperate_ are you? To call on such lost creatures to defend you?" The infamous silver tongue quietly taunts the SHIELD director. Sy never looked up from the video, even as others all steal quick glances at Bruce. She was too focused on the odd way the god moved, on how weirdly his power sang through the air. She could feel his presence, even from the other side of the helicarrier; like any other divine being. But with Loki, it was different. She wasn't sure how. It just felt  _off._

       "How desperate am I?" Fury asked, stalking closer to the glass of the cage. Sy recognized the tactic, remembering when Fury had once done the same to her. Turning every word she spoke against her. Terrifying her into following his agenda. It had taken her a long time to grow a spine strong enough to withstand his steely one-eyed glare.

       "You threaten my world with war, you steal a force you can't hope to control. You talk about peace and you kill cause it's fun. You have made me _very_ desperate. You might not be glad that you did." Loki's odd grin grows even as Fury grows angrier. Sy studied the video, listening to the strange cadence of Loki's words; something about the silvertongue's words sat with her wrong.

       "Oh, it _burns_ you to have come so close. To have the Tesseract, to have power; _unlimited_ power. And for what? A warm light for all mankind to share? And then to be reminded what real power is." Sy rolls his words through her mind, leaving a bitter after taste. One she thought she should recognize. Sy filed it away in her mind, unsure of what she should make of it. The director studied the god for a moment, searching for something. He comes to a decision.

       "Well let me know if real power wants a magazine or something." Fury leaves the god of mischief alone in his cage. She watched as the god's strange smile dropped away quickly, even as he turned to pace around the small cage once again. There was a long pause after the video feed cut out.

       "He really grows on you, doesn't he?" Bruce asked good naturedly from his standing position. Roger's face was serious as he looked up.

       "Loki isn't going to want to drag this out. So Thor, what's his play?" Syrinx, glanced at the god. She wasn't sure what to make of the idea that a god, and  _actual honest to Zeus god_ , wanted to be involved personally. She knew that the norse gods were different, that the ancient laws didn't always bind them so strictly as they did to some of the more powerful pantheons; but even so, immortals didn't mix with mortals. Ever. The power rolling off the god, the sheer presence of the god's divinity washed over her, screaming against her instincts. She hoped that the presence of the foreign god would help to mask her scent from monsters. And hopefully not bring them charging towards the carrier hellbent on vengence or simply looking to challenge the powerful being. 

       "He has an army called the Chitauri, that are not of Asgard nor any other world known. He means to lead them against your people. They will win him the Earth, in return I suspect, for the Tesseract." Sy swung the chair from side to side, her fingers dancing an uneven beat against the table.

       "An army. From outer space." Steve said in disbelief.

       "So he's building another portal. That's what he needs Erik Selvig for." Bruce said, tapping his glasses thoughtfully against his hand. Sy nodded absently to herself, even as she rolled over the odd taste Loki's words left in her mouth. It was bothering her.

       "Selvig?" Thor asked.

       "An astrophysicist. One of my aunt's favorites." Sy said offhandedly, thinking about how Urania's power had grown as mortal interest in the stars grew, a result from Dr. Selvig's work after Thor had visited Earth the previous year. She'd been in the middle of a different quest at the time, and by the time she'd made it to New Mexico to try an handle the situation between SHIELD and the norseman, the problem had already been resolved. 

       "He's a friend." The god insisted. She just shrugged at him. He confused her. Mortals and gods friends? She restrained the urge to snort.

       "Loki has him under some sort of spell. Along with one of ours." Nat said. Sy sent her a sympathetic look. She knew how close Nat and Clint were. It sucked for her to have to see him brainwashed and their enemy. 

       "I want to know why Loki let us take him. I was weak, and yet he didn't run or fight when I brought him back in after Thor tried to break him out." Sy said. Steve nodded at her in approval. She felt a flush of pride sweep over her at the quiet compliment.

       "He's not leading an army from in here." Steve added. Bruce shook his head.

       "I don't think we should be focusing on Loki. The guy's brain is like a bag full of cats. You can smell the crazy on him." Sy winced at the insult. Besides, crazy tasted different. More sugary, with a hint of freezer burn. No Loki wasn't crazy; at least not in the traditional sense.

       "Have care with how you speak. Loki is beyond reason, but he is of Asgard. He is my brother." The thunder god warned. Sy tensed, prepared to duck in case thunderbolts began to fly.

       "He's killed 80 people in two days." Nat said dryly. The god looked slightly abashed, so Sy plucked up her courage before sending a warning of her own.

_"And he trespassed upon my family's domain. I think it is you, who should be careful."_  Syrinx spoke to the god in Old Norse, a sign of respect even with her disrespectful words. She wasn't like the son of Poseidon. She wouldn't survive ticking off every deity she met.

       "He's adopted." He added quickly. Syrinx sighed. This was going nowhere. She stood up and began to pace.

       "Let's just go over the facts. Iridium, what do they need iridium for." She muttered to herself as her brain whirred in multiple directions.

       "It's a stabilizing agent.' Tony Stark strolled into the room, late. He muttered something about flying to Portland to Coulson before continuing. 'Something it needs so that the portal won't collapse on itself like it did at SHIELD." He walked passed Thor.

       "No hard feelings Point Break, you got a mean swing." He said, patting the Asgardian on the arm. Sy's eyebrows rose. The billionaire seemed to be on a roll because he walked up to her next. She stopped moving.

       "Just curious. How exactly _do_ you get on Fury's good side? Because I didn't think he had one until I met you." Tony didn't wait for a response before moving on.

       "Also! It means that the portal can stay open as wide, for as long, as Loki wants." He walked up to the platform where Fury usually stands, turning back and forth, looking confused. He started to snark nonsense about sailing ships. He points dramatically at a someone in the back.

       "That man is playing Galaga. He thought we wouldn't notice. But we did." Sy groaned, sinking back into a chair and putting her forehead down on the table.

       "Look I was concussed earlier. I don't want to have another headache just after I managed to get rid of the last one." She muttered. This kind of meeting would be killer on her ADHD. Someone nudged her seat so she tuned back in.

       "... still needs is a power source. A high energy density, to kick start the cube." She glanced up, her brain filtering through the knowledge he had been spouting. Realizing that Uranina had lectured her and her cousins on thermonuclear astrophysics; and she recognized what they were talking about. But Tony Stark was not a scientist. Or the child of a muse.

       "When did you become an expert in thermonuclear astrophysics?" She asked curiously. The response was almost predictably flippant.

       "Last night. The packet? Selvig's notes, the extraction theory papers?" He asked. She shook her head. She knew all the information because of her aunt.

       "I was busy playing music for the wealthy elite of Germany and getting concussed." She said dryly. Everyone else just looked blank. Tony spread his arms.

       "Am I the only one who did the reading?"

       "Loki need any particular kind of power source?" Steve asked. She shook her head even as Bruce answered.

       "He'd have to heat the cube to a hundred and twenty million Kelvin just to break through the Columbo barrier."

       "Unless Dr. Selvig figures out a way to stabilize the quantum tunneling effect." Sy pointed out. Tony looked at her in shock. So did Bruce. Everyone else followed suit; though Thor didn't seem to follow why her participation was a surprise.

       The stares didn't really bother her. After all she was seventeen and the god expert. Not an astrophysicist. But her aunts had given her and her cousins a very comprehensive and thorough education. She knew her shit. To an extent.

       "Well if he could do that, then he could achieve heavy ion fusion at any reactor on the planet." Bruce noted after he shook off his shock.

       "Finally, people who speak English." Tony said. He turned towards Sy.

       "So I did the reading, but when did  _you_  become an expert in thermonuclear astrophysics?" Tony asked. She leaned back into the chair as she swiveled it around more, her energy levels ramping up. Loki's odd presence irritating her senses even as she desperately tried to stay focused on the present conversation.

       "I'm not an expert. But my aunts are... intense, about certain subjects. My summer curriculum at home was... interesting, to put it mildly." She answered vaguely. Tony just raised an incredulous eyebrow before going to introduce himself to Bruce.

       "Is that what just happened?" Steve muttered.

       "It's good to meet you Dr. Banner. Your work on anti-electron collision is unparalleled. And I'm a huge fan of how you lose control and turn into a gigantic green rage monster." Sy rolled her eyes even if she was technically apart of the huddle.

       "Thanks." Banner said slowly.

       "Dr. Banner is only here to help us find the cube." Fury warned as he strode into the room. The director gave her the stink eye for being up and about already, but he wouldn't fight her. It wasn't exactly like she was still concussed.

       "I was hoping you might join him." He continued to address Tony, even as Fury began to make his way around the table, his eye evaluating every individual around it. She sank lower in her seat. Fury, interestingly enough, was a tad over protective when it came to people he cared about. Which as far as she knew was Maria Hill, Phil Coulson and her. And he cared about her because he owed her a life debt, both for his life and for SHIELD. She realized they had kept talking and started listening again. Steve was throwing out ideas.

       "I'd start with that stick of his. It may be magical, but it works an awful lot like a Hydra weapon." Fury turns to look at Steve, his expression carefully neutral.

       "I don't know about that, but it  _is_  powered by the cube." Syrinx stepped in.

       "That's definitely not magic. I've seen magic. That scepter, whatever it does, is something else entirely." Fury sighed and glanced at her before continuing. She wondered if she shouldn't mention the odd feeling she'd been getting from Loki. After a moment, she decided against it. If the feeling intensified or changed, she would bring it up. However, she  _would_  tell Thor. As soon as she had a moment to speak with the god.

       Now  _that_  was a conversation she genuinely did not want to have.

       "Magic or not, I'd like to know how Loki used it to turn two of the sharpest men I know into his personal flying monkeys."

       "Monkeys? I do not understand." The god of thunder asked, confused by the pop culture reference.

       "I do!" Steve exclaimed, slapping the table. Everyone turned to face him, a little surprised by the soldier's outburst.

       "I understood that reference." He clarified, looking a little abashed. Sy smiled at him sympathetically. She remembered what it was like, leaving camp for the first time after being a year rounder for years. The man was feeling that culture shock on a much larger scale. Granted, he could also _use_ the devices that he was being shocked by. She couldn't use technology too much. Monster's suck, even for the children of minor gods. Fury glared at her one more time before walking away. Tony glanced at Bruce.

       "Shall we play doctor?"

       "This way, Sir." Banner motions. The men start to walk away before Tony paused and looked back.

       "Well? You coming kid?" Sy groaned. She would rather go take a nap. But Aunt Uraina would never forgive her if she didn't. And that kind of irritation from a goddess spelled bad things for a demigod.

       "Coming!" She called back before pushing her chair out to follow.


	11. Chapter 11

_Thor_

       The young maiden was a strange enigma. The girl spoke the old tongue, fought well and had an aura of power he recognized but does not understand. It felt old, but not older than he.

       It's strength even matches his. Which is odd, for as long as he and his people ate the apples, they remain long lived and powerful. Gods. And yet, the girl is most certainly a mortal. She clearly does not consume Idunn's apples. However she noted his and Loki's power the moment they entered the room, and she seemed to behave oddly; showing him a level of respect that he hadn't been shown by mortals since the days midgardians had worshipped him as the god he is.

       He resolved to speak with her immediately. It would not do for him to be caught off guard by the strange girl.


	12. Chapter 12

_Sy_

       She wasn't sure why Loki felt so wrong to her, but she planned on finding out why. She tucked her fiddle under her arm, fidgeting outside the containment chamber. She took several deep breaths before stepping inside the room. She walked on nearly silent feet towards the white cage in the center of the room. Loki glanced up, a small smirk playing across his expression.

       "The godling." He murmured quietly as he caught sight of her. She said nothing, instead choosing to tuck the fiddle beneath her chin. She took another slow, deep breath. Clearing her mind.

       Slowly, slowly, slowly she drew her bow across the strings. Music poured softly from the instrument, the tune slow and melodious. This kind of music was always the most difficult for her. She could breeze across fast, complex compositions like it was nothing, the same ADHD that made her battle reflexes so fast, perfecting her ability to see the music ten steps ahead, helped her fingers fly and made her bow arm quick. But slow pieces? Those required patience, and an ability to slow her own energetic impulses down to minute perfection.

       She teased out the music, sweat beading on her forehead as she concentrated on spinning her considerable power through the music. She pushed feelings of peace and safety towards the god. She reached for the emotions buried inside, and pulled on what was a surprisingly large reservoir of love. She found wells of guilt and resentment and jealousy and shame and fear. She acknowledged them before looking for more of his positive emotions. Her wrist shook with vibrato notes as she moved magic through them both, hunting through the god's feelings; appealing to every sentiment of his better nature. She found his loyalty, his dogged determination and his more playful mischief, not unlike Cabin 11's more harmless pranks. She wove power through the magic, encouraging the god to believe her, to speak honestly, to be  _good_.

       Or at least chaotically neutral.

       She drew out the final note, panting hard as she slumped back against the wall. She looked up to see the god also on his knees, his blue, blue eyes (weren't they green?) flickering oddly. He glanced up at her, his face pale, but his expression oddly disappointed.

       "You have power little godling. But your little tricks shan't be enough to save you." Sy stepped forward.

       "Why would the god of mischief be foolish enough to trade away a powerful object; the Space Stone, just so that he could rule a planet already ruled by beings far more powerful than he?" The god smiled sadly, green eyes (weren't they blue?) far more expressive than she'd ever seen in an immortal being before. It was almost like the wrongness she'd been feeling all along had faded.

       "You little godling, have come far, far too late to help this trickster." The odd flickering stopped. He shook his head hard as his eyes settled into the strange blue. Sy stepped back as his expression filled with anger, and the wrongness of his presence surged forward, pressing against her mind, power rolling off the god. She wasn't stupid enough to stay with an unstable out-of-control god. As she left, she passed by Natasha making her way towards Loki. Sy ignored the assassin's curious look, instead making her way towards the lab.


	13. Chapter 13

_Sy_

       She joined the two adults in the lab after she made a quick detour to her room to swap out the fiddle for her lyre. Her mother's sacred instrument was always best when she was trying to inspire greatness. As the leader of the muses, Calliope's influence touched each of the others, which in turn amplified Sy's gifts. Sy's own talent for inspiring others was greater than her cousins, and often made her in great demand for different musical groups; everyone swearing up and down that she was a good luck charm, on top of being an outstanding artist in her own right. She felt a little guilty, her natural talents giving her such an easy leg up in an industry that was otherwise cruel.

       But in this case, her talent as a "good luck charm" would hopefully help to fuel the search for the Tesseract. Or give  _her_  an idea about what the feeling she got from the god of mischief was. It still bothered her; how utterly wrong the god felt. Nothing about her short conversation with Loki cleared it up either. Mostly she had an overwhelming sense of fear and resentment and confusion. She didn't really think that Loki was evil, at least not the kind of evil she was used to fighting. No, something else was at play. Something powerful enough to manipulate a  _god_. It more than unsettled her. It  _terrified_ her.

       She settled into a chair as the two men worked. She quietly tuned the instrument, neither of them having noticed her come in yet. Sy fidgeted. All the technology stressed her out. Hopefully the powerful auras of the two gods they had on board would cover her scent. She prayed that it would. They were busy enough without adding a monster attack to the situation.

       She began to gently strum a soft tune on the lyre. She let herself sway with the music a little; not quite letting herself get lost in it yet. She felt the tension drain from her body as she thought only of the next note; weaving in calm, peace, determination and courage. Low notes of urgency flowed into the song, even as she urged creativity. The music flowed through her, around her and inside her soul as the song lifted and spun through the air, drifting into the two geniuses working in quiet unison across from her.

       Tony looked at her in surprise when he finally noticed the music. She let her fingers continue to drift across the strings, the melody flowing instinctively even as she refocused her mind onto the present.

       "When did you sneak in kid?" Sy raised her eyebrows.

       "A few minutes ago. I've been playing for the last two minutes and you only noticed me now?  _That_  inspires confidence." She replied sardonically. She switched from her formless melody to playing the Mission Impossible theme song. Tony laughed at her little joke. Then she then switched to Ride of the Valkyries, just as quickly she changed to Confidence by Demi Lovato. Her fingers moved easily over the strings, spinning power through the air.

       "None of those songs should sound good on a stringed instrument. But it does. How?" Tony asked incredulously as the two men watched her play. She never even looked away from the strings, her body swaying to the music. Her mind divided, as she played, turned over the oddness of Loki and answered Tony's question.

       "I'm just that good." Sy smirked as she moved to older songs, songs whose names have been lost to all but her mom and her aunts. Songs from Ancient Greece, when the nine muses still lived on Mount Parnassos.

       "What's with you and instruments? You were playing the violin that first day on the helicarrier, and you were playing at that gala in Germany. I've heard you practicing with at least a dozen different instruments in the time we've been on the carrier." Bruce asked her curiously. She shrugged.

       "It's just who I am. I can play anything. The music is a tool to convey power, thought, emotion, command. My music is my gift." She changed the song, her fingers plucking out a new melody, one just for this moment. Bringing out the brilliance of the two men. Inspiring them. She also prayed to her aunt, hoping Urania would help them. She tossed in a prayer for Athena as well, not wanting the capricious goddess of wisdom to feel slighted. Besides, maybe she could help them.

       "Cool. And what are you playing now?" Tony asked. She started to slow her pace, the notes coming out low and mysterious. She chose to deliberately misinterpret his question.

       "This is a lyre."

       "A lyre?" Bruce asked softly.

       "That's... unusual..." He trailed off.

       "Normal is boring. Besides, this instrument is important to my mom." Sy said without missing a beat. Tony laughed in agreement, even as Bruce looked slightly pained, pity tinging his expression. She guessed that the sanitized version of her file claimed her mom to be dead. She had no idea what the not-sanitized version looked like; but she knew it wouldn't say anything about Olympus. At least, it wouldn't if Fury wanted to stay alive.

       Tony popped a few blueberries into his mouth. She paused and looked at the billionaire, as she realized something.

       "You know I have a name right?" She asked. Tony had yet to call her by her name.

       "Nope. Never heard it. No one's said it; I've got nothing. So you are The Kid." Tony joked. Sy rolled her eyes.

       "My name is Sy." She said. Tony looked at her funny.

       "That short for something?"

       "Yeah, but I'm not a huge fan of the story behind my name." She admitted freely. Tony leaned across the table top.

       "Ok, so what's your name?" She looked at him suspiciously. He gave her as good as he had with the innocent face. Sy raised an eyebrow in disbelief. Tony morphed into more of a puppy dog face; or rather he tried. Really he just looked kinda constipated. She sighed. If she didn't tell him, she strongly suspected he'd find out some other way. And since Sy didn't really trust Fury, she capitulated.

       "Syrinx." She said shortly. Tony frowned, not understanding. She sighed but crossed her legs, and changed the melody to one that was softer, melodic. Better for telling stories.

       "It's greek. We're kind of famous for depressing stories." She changed the rhythm of her voice, preparing to tell the story. Her mom is the Muse of Eloquence and Epic Poetry. Sy knew how to tell a good story.

       "A long time ago, in a time of gods and monsters and heroes, there was a beautiful nymph named Syrinx. She was a huntress of Artemis, the maiden goddess of the hunt, one of her favored followers. The hunters of Artemis were famed to be some of the most fierce and strong and beautiful women in all the ancient world. And every one of them swore an oath to the goddess, a vow of eternal maidenhood. And in return they gained the goddess's blessing and favor, performing as immortal handmaidens and companions to her eternal hunt." Her music took a darker tone, ominous and fearful as she deepened her tone to match the darkening mood. Both men were completely entranced by the music, eyes unfocused as they saw flashes of the story in their mind's eye as she spoke.

       "One day, while in the wild, the nature god Pan fell in love with Syrinx's beauty and pursued her all across the land, never ceasing his hunt for the beautiful maiden. She had been far from her mistress, to far to beg for her assistance. So the nymph fled. But as a god, Pan was stronger, more powerful. So when she came upon a river, Syrinx fell to her knees in exhaustion and begged her sisters to protect her. The Naiads felt pity for her and changed her into hollow river reeds.

       "When the god Pan saw what he had done he fell to his knees and wept. In his frustration of losing his prey, his breath summoned a great wind, a wind that blew through the hollow reeds. The music that was created was hauntingly beautiful. The god Pan cut the reeds and fashioned himself an instrument out of them, the first set of panpipes, named for the god that lead to their creation." She ended her tune with the her story and put the lyre down. The two men slowly come back to themselves as they were released from the strength of her music.

       Tony and Bruce looked at her in awe.

       "You're an amazing storyteller, you know that?" Bruce said. She smiled wryly, the expression not quite reaching her eyes.

       "But you can see why I don't really love the story behind my name? I don't really want to be called by the name of a girl who tried to escape her attempted rapist by turning into a plant, which her stalker then cut up and turned into a morbid trophy, sorry,  _instrument,_  he carried around his neck everywhere. He was famous for those panpipes. And afterwards, to honor the god Pan, many of his followers mimicked the god, a worshipped him by playing pan flutes; also known as a  _syrinx_." Tony and Bruce both looked horrified by her dark take on the story.

       "And I thought it was just a sad story. That's downright creepy." Bruce muttered.

       "So call me Sy and everything is sunshine and rainbows." She said with false cheer. Her fingers itched to keep playing but she knew it was time to get to work. She clapped her hands together.

       "Alright boys enough about me. Let's get to work!"

* * *

       Sy unravelled the cord to the scanner before passing it to Bruce. She turned the screen to face them both.

       "The gamma readings are definitely consistent with Dr. Selvig's reports on the Tesseract." She commented. Bruce squinted at the screen.

       "Yeah, but it will take weeks to process." He said. Tony tapped at his own computer.

       "If we bypass their mainframe and direct route to the homework cluster, we can clock this at, six hundred teraflops." Tony said as he swiped at a computer.

       "And all I packed was a toothbrush." Bruce joked.

       "That's more than I packed." Sy volunteered. She didn't really count her instruments. Those came with her everywhere. Most everything else she had on board, Fury had gotten for her. Or rather, he'd asked Agents Hill or Coulson to get them for her.

       Sy kept working as Tony came closer.

       "You know, you should come by Stark Tower sometime. Top ten floors, all R&D. You'd love it. It's Candyland." He said.

       "You too kid. Plus, Pepper would love you." Sy shuddered internally at the idea of all that technology around her. This floating monstrosity was risky enough, thank you very much.

       "You know my name now, you should use it." Sy muttered even as Bruce responded to Tony's offer.

       "Thanks, but the last time I was in New York... I kinda broke... Harlem." Bruce said as he continued to work. Sy leaned over his shoulder and poked at the screen, watching the gamma readings fluctuate within 'normal' bounds. She shrugged.

       "I've broken a couple of schools. And a subway station. And Central Park." She added. Both men shot her a confused looks, but she just smiled widely at them both before turning back to work. Choosing to either ignore her comments or dismissing them as a joke, Tony spread his arms out as he wheedled at Bruce.

       "Well I promise a stress free environment. No attention, no surprises." Sy frowned at the causal air he had adopted. She looked up in time to see Tony poke Bruce with something.

       "OW!" Bruce complained as Tony shocked him. Sy put the tablet down and began to edge towards her lyre. That would be her most effective weapon if the Hulk goes out of control. After all 'music soothes the savage beast.' Although Sy doubted that Banner was ever a savage beast, the Hulk most certainly was. A quiet  _whoosh_ sound singled the entrance of another person into the lab.

       "Hey!" Steve's voice echoed in the room as Tony stared at Bruce.

       "Nothing?" He asked, staring into Bruce's eyes.

       "Are you nuts?" Steve asked, his face all sorts of angry. Sy stopped edging and started hurrying. She was either going to make everyone chill out or she was leaving the idiots to fight out their differences. She hadn't decided yet.

       "The jury's out." Sy called as she picked up her lyre and began to run her fingers over the strings. She desperately wanted to play, but they needed to figure out their interpersonal problems without her compulsion. Otherwise as soon as she left they'd just pick up where they left off. She knew that. But it didn't remove the temptation to play all the problems away.

       "Kid, you're supposed to be on my side." Tony complained. He looked at Bruce who continued to work. Sy debated helping him while staying in the suddenly tense lab or making a run for her room, with all her other instruments. Option B was tempting, but she didn't want to leave Bruce to the mercy of Stark and Rogers.

       "You really do have a lid on it don't you? How do you do it? Mellow jazz, bongo drums, huge bag of weed?" He asked Bruce as Steve watched incredulously.

       "Is everything a joke to you?" Steve asked, clearly angry.

       "Funny things are." Tony replied, pointing his little zapper thing at him.

       "Threatening the safety of everyone on this ship isn't funny. No offense doc." Steve said, his expression dead serious. He just didn't know that her music was part of Fury's protocol to keep the Hulk in check. If her music can stop rampaging hellhounds and cyclopes, she could probably stop the Hulk. Especially when she wasn't concussed.

       Probably.

       "Saying no offense generally makes it offensive." Sy muttered even as Bruce reassured Steve.

       "It's fine. I wouldn't have come aboard if I couldn't handle pointy... things." he said as he glanced over at Tony. Bruce was trying to study several screens at once, so she took pity and walked over, helping him out again. She idly worked, her ADHD good for something as she followed the conversation at the same time. Sy made sure she kept the lyre in easy reach though.

       "You're tiptoeing big man. You need to strut." Tony said, ignoring Steve.

       "And you need to focus on the problem Mr. Stark." The supersoldier insisted.

       "You think I'm not?" Tony asked. The tension in the room skyrocketed. She regretted not leaving the room when she could. She leaned over to Bruce.

       "Why are mommy and daddy fighting?" She whispered dramatically. Bruce snorted quietly, poking her gently in the side before pulling over her screen to check the statistics against his.

       "Why did Fury call us in? Why now? Not before? What isn't he telling us? I can't do the equation without all the variables." Tony said.

       "You think Fury is hiding something." Steve said. Sy rolled her eyes. Of course Fury was hiding something. He was  _Fury_.

       "He's a spy. He is The Spy. His secrets have secrets." Tony said. Sy suddenly frowned,  _she_  was one of those secrets. But Tony was right. Fury was hiding something besides the Olympians. Something dangerous.

       "It's bugging them too." Tony said, suddenly pointing at them. Bruce looked like a kid caught with his hand in the cookie jar.

       "Ahhhh. I just want to finish my work here and..." One hand nearly hit her in the face as he waved his arms around vaguely. Sy ducked.

       "Doctor?" She was both irritated and grateful that Steve didn't seem to count her opinion. Bruce sighed and removed his glasses, which she noted to be on of his nervous habits.

       "A warm light for all mankind, Loki's jab at Fury about the cube." Sy's eyes widened, understanding immediately. She hadn't felt right about Fury's line about sustainable energy that she had fed to Steve Rogers when he had sent her to recruit him. It had tasted wrong in her mouth, a lie that had been clumsily covered up. She remembered that taste when Loki mentioned it again. But that wasn't what was bothering her about the god. No that wrongness was a different issue entirely.

       "I heard him." Steve said, clearly not following.

       "Well, I think that was meant for you." He said pointing at Tony. He took a few of the offered blueberries.

       "Even if Barton didn't tell Loki about the tower, it was still all over the news. "

       "The Stark tower?" Steve asked incredulously, "that big ugly... " he paused when Tony glared at him before finishing. "Building in New York?"

       "It's powered by an arc reactor, a self sustaining energy source. Rachel was going nuts about the implications in clean energy." Sy said, beginning to understand what Bruce was talking about. She glanced over at Tony. "That building will run itself for what... a year?" The billionaire shrugged.

       "It's just a prototype." Tony said as he chewed. He looked at Steve.

       "I'm kinda the only name in clean energy right now. It's what they're getting at." He said condescendingly. Bruce looked up at the other two men.

       "So... why didn't SHIELD bring him in on the Tesseract project? What... what are they doing in the energy business in the first place?" Bruce asked. Sy got a sick feeling in her gut, she knew that Fury's words had tasted wrong. She wasn't going to like the answer to Bruce's question. After all the director of SHIELD had a history of making poor choices when confronted with power greater than his. She was a living example of that. Likely one of the very few in fact, considering how Fury's poor choices tended to get people  _dead_.

       "I should probably look into that, once my decryption program finishes breaking into all of SHIELD's secure files." Tony said as he wandered around with a tablet. Sy shot to her feet. If he broke in and saw her file. Her  _real_  file. The information on Olympus, what little SHIELD has, could be disastrous. Sy doubted that Fury followed through and actually deleted everything on her.

       "Tony!" She snapped. But Steve had beaten her to it, speaking over her.

       "I'm sorry but did you say?" Tony didn't look the slightest bit ashamed, flipping the tablet screen to show Steve something.

       "JARVIS has been running it since I hit the bridge. In a few hours, I'll know every dirty secret SHIELD has ever tried to hide." Sy got a sick feeling. She hoped Fury had followed through had removed all the information he had on Olympus. Or else Tony's little electrical B&E was going to result in a lot of deaths. Both hers and SHIELD's.

       "Blueberry?" He offered her. She waved him off, feeling sick. She lightly began to strum the lyre, letting the nearly silent music relax her without influencing the emotions in the room.

       "Yet you're confused as to why they don't want you around." Steve said coldly. Sy frowned. Sure Tony was an irritating pain in the ass who never does as he is told, but Steve is behaving a bit like a stick in the mud. No effort to like Tony at all. Then again the billionaire doesn't make it easy for him. The two were a bit like bickering siblings, if she really thought about it.

       "An intelligence organization that fears intelligence. Historically, not awesome." Tony replied.

       "I think Loki is trying to wind us up. This is a man who means to start a war. And if we don't stay focused, he'll succeed. We have orders. We should follow them." The supersoldier ordered. Sy rolled her eyes as her fingers plucked out her scales and arpeggios on the strings. She started to hum the song from the Aristocats movie.

_'Do mi so do do so mi do / Every truly cultured music student knows / You must learn your scales and your arpeggios / Bring the music ringing from your chest and not your nose / While you sing your scales and your arpeggios'_

       "Yeah, following isn't really my style." Tony said popping blueberries into his mouth. Steve raised an eyebrow, looking for all the world like he wanted to hit Tony. Sy wondered if she could leave now. She changed the song she played, a little more urgency coloring the music. They really  _did_  need to find the Tesseract. This time she let her music influence the men, pushing for a quick resolution so they could get back to work. Whatever it was Loki wanted the Tesseract for, it wasn't going to be good.

       "And you're all about style aren't you?" He asked.

       "Of all the people in the room, who is A. wearing a spangly outfit and B. not of use?" Tony taunts.

_'The Greeks and the Romans get along better than these two.'_  She sighed to herself, even as a small flush of pride rushed through her for being considered useful.

       "Steve, tell me none of this smells a little funky to you." Bruce said quietly. Steve frowned and turned away.

       "Just find the cube." He ordered. The door slid shut behind him with a quiet hiss. Sy finally put the lyre down, pulling down a new monitor to check on the other unique radiation signatures the scepter was throwing off.

       "That was the guy my dad never shut up about?" Tony scoffed. "I'm beginning to wonder if they should have kept him on ice."

       "He's only been awake a couple months; give him time to adjust Tony. We should focus on what's important, because Steve's not wrong about Loki. He does have the jump on us." Sy said quietly, rejoining the conversation. Both men shot her surprised glances. She wanted to stand on the table and holler

_'I KNOW THINGS TOO!'_

       But that was dumb and childish; so she resisted the urge and kept working. Sy knew her usefulness was about to run out in that lab, after all Urania taught her about the stars, not so much about the radiation of Norse artifacts. If she could hurry up and hit the barrier of her knowledge, she could leave. Maybe go play music, write, draw; she would even take training in the gym over the tense lab.

       "What he's got, is an ACME dynamite kit. It's gonna blow up in his face. And, I'm gonna be there when it does." Tony insisted as he strolled across the lab towards her station.

       "Well, I'll read all about it." Bruce said with false cheer, sending her and Tony a packet of data. She pushed back, letting the genius analyze the data points that were beginning to run away from her.

       "Uh huh. Or you'll be suiting up with the rest of us." Tony said distractedly. Sy smiled to herself. The man may be crazy, but at least he treats Bruce like a person, rather than an outcast danger to society. It was rather sweet. Bruce shook his head slightly.

       "Ah you see, I don't get a suit of armor." He said with a slight scoff. Sy tapped on a data cluster Tony missed. He nudged her side gently in thanks before continuing to work at speeds she couldn't keep up with. Sy settled for observing.

       "I'm exposed. Like a nerve. It's a nightmare." Bruce finished, sounding like he was remembering something terrible. And in a way, she supposed, he was.

       "You know, I have this cluster of shrapnel trying every second to crawl it's way into my heart. This, stops it." Tony tapped his chest lightly. He suddenly swept away all the data, closing the station. Sy frowned and reached for her lyre. If Tony was going to pep talk Bruce, than she could play a little. She found a rhythm in her hands, fingers moving up and down to a quiet melody; for courage and intellect in the face of ignorance.

       "This little circle of light? It's a part of me now." He said, walking over to the other man.

       "It's not just armor. It's a, terrible privilege." He said. Sy smiled slightly at the thought. That's what being a demigod was like. They had amazing gifts, and were much like Steve, super soldiers. But it came with a burden. Monsters, blood, death war; the craziest family drama to ever exist. But that burden was what made her life, her family so exceptional. No matter how many wars she'd played foot soldier in, no matter how much she lost, the call of battle would always sing its way into her heart. Even the artist in her would be suppressed when it came to Capture the Flag at camp, or to go on a quest or even killing the random monsters who attacked her every couple of weeks. No matter how peaceful her mother may be. It was who she was, a part of her blood.

       "But you can control it." Bruce countered. Tony gave him a long look.

       "Because I learned how." Bruce shook his head and kept working. Tony frowned at him and swept away all of his work too. Sy wanted to say something, but she didn't think any of the men had realized she could fly. And she would prefer to keep it that way if she could.

       "Hey. I've read all about your accident. That much gamma exposure; should have killed you." Tony said seriously. Bruce rolled his eyes.

       "So are you saying, the Hulk. The.. Other Guy, saved my life? That's nice." He said sarcastically, nodding. "That's a nice sentiment. He saved it for... what?" He asked. Sy spoke up.

       "It doesn't matter. Your gifts, the Hulk, he's part of you now. Whatever sentiments you attach to him, whatever he might have saved you for, it doesn't matter. What matters is that you were saved. And now you have to decide what you're going to do with your second chance. Not just as Dr. Banner, but as the Hulk."

       "You may not enjoy that." Bruce warned them as he went back to work, not looking at either of them. Tony came back to the computer they were working at. He gave her a quiet high five. Tony shook his head as he fixed an error she made. Sy pushed herself away from the computers. She wasn't useful from a scientific point of view anymore. She picked up her lyre.

       "And you just might." Tony finally replied. She waved goodbye as she left the lab. Maybe she could convince Fury to bring up a piano for her, instead of her keyboard.


	14. Chapter 14

_Sy_

       She found Fury in the bridge. He refused to bring her a real piano. He said it was  _'unnecessary.'_  That irritated her. Pianos and keyboard were completely different. Sure technically she could practice just as well on the keyboard, but it had a completely different feel from the keys on a piano, a different sound.  She walked with Fury as he headed towards Thor, who was talking with Coulson.

       "In my youth, I courted war." He said sadly. Fury broke into the god's reverie.

       "War hasn't started yet." Sy rolled her eyes. Of course it had. The only thing that hadn't begun yet was the fighting.

       "You think you can make Loki tell us where the Tesseract is?" Fury asked, standing at the top of the stairs. Thor shook his head. Sy leaned against the railing, watching the interaction.

       "Loki's mind is far afield. It's not just power he craves, it's vengeance. Upon me. There is no pain that would prise what's needed from him." Thor looked disheartened by his brother's actions. Sy shook her head sadly. Loki  _did_  love his family; that much was clear from the music. But it was too buried beneath the bitter resentment that stemmed from something else. And vengeance had very little to do with Loki's plans. He lacked conviction for one. No, what Loki wanted was something else entirely. Sy just wasn't exactly sure  _what_.

       "A lot of guys think that. Until the pain starts." Fury made his way down the stairs.

       "What are you asking me to do?" Thor asked. Fury got in the god's face. Sy rolled her eyes. She thought after last time, he would know better than to do that to a god. But Thor didn't seem insulted.

_'I guess the Norse gods are different.'_  She thought for a moment about Idunn's apples. Sy resisted the urge to shrug.

_'Yeah, the Norse gods are different. After all they can die.'_  Not that she would ever tell Fury that. He'd want to know how.

       "I'm asking, what are you prepared to do?" Thor's eyes hardened.

       "Loki is a prisoner here." He said harshly. Looked like Hermes was right; not matter what, you cannot give up on family. Fury replied evenly.

       "Then why do I feel like he's the only one on this boat that wants to be here?" The director walked away. She got an idea. Sy turned to Coulson, a puppy dog expression on her face. 

       "Hey Phil, can you get me a piano?" She asked hopefully. Coulson got a sour look on his face.

        "Fury already said no didn't he?" He asked her warily. Sy groaned and slumped against the railing. She should have known that she would never get anything by him. Thor made his way up the stairs to her side.

       "You speak the Old Tongue. Why?" He asked her abruptly. Sy glanced at Coulson. The agent looked confused. She looked back to the god.

_"Follow me Lord of Thunder."_


	15. Chapter 15

_Thor_

       He followed the odd maiden through the bowels of the ship. She finally stopped outside a room and when the door opened she invited him in. Thor realized that this must the girl's private quarters.

       Instruments and paper cluttered every available surface. Every instrument was in an open case, or hung carefully on a wall. The papers were an eclectic collection of writings, drawings, music and hand painted maps of the stars. But what really caught his eye was the sword. It was made of a shimmering bronze metal with a double-edged leaf shaped blade. The grip was wrapped in worn and well cared leather with a flat hilt. It was a beautiful weapon, one that was clearly well used and well cared for.

       "I have not seen a weapon like that in a long time." He said quietly as he stepped into the room. The maiden turned around.

_"I am Syrinx Melos. Daughter of Calliope, the leader of the Muses. Representative of Olympus."_  She spoke in Old Norse. It was then that Thor realized exactly how serious the trouble it was that Loki had gotten himself into.

       This was beyond the reckless destruction of mortal lives. He has insulted the Olympians, a group of divine figures who are much more powerful than that of Asgard.

       "I am Thor Odinson." He said simply, knowing that this girl would know the rest of his titles. She gave him a shallow bow. He nodded back. The dance of diplomacy would be the end of him. At least he remembered to revert to English so that she could as well. She gestured to the bed, the only clear space in the room.

       "Sit Odinson. I welcome you to Midgard. Your trespass has been forgiven for the time being. I recommend going to beg Lord Zeus for forgiveness as soon as you can manage." She warned him.

       "I thank you Syrinx, daughter of inspiration. I release you of responsibility to my presence on Earth. Odin Allfather as spoken to Lord Zeus of my arrival." The girl slumped with relief.

       "Thank the gods. I had no idea what I was going to do about you. And please, call me Sy." Syrinx smiled at him. The girl was clearly a child of divine inspiration, likely to be outshone only by children of the goddess of beauty herself. Artistically inclined, beautiful, and with a strong aura of power he hadn't felt in a thousand years.

       "Tell me, why do you carry such a weapon on this ship? Surely Fury does not intend you harm? The mortal realm protects children, even those who can protect themselves. And Heimdall has informed Asgard that the threat of Gaia has passed." Syrinx shook her head.

       "A halfblood is never safe in the moral world. I carry my sword in case of monsters. My blade is made of divine metal, it won't harm mortals." She picked up a fiddle and placed it beneath her chin, she softly drew the bow across the strings. The melody that came out was old, one he remembers from the days he spent on Midgard in his youth when he was still worshipped as a god. The song wrapped around his head, and as he watched the girl play, swaying in rhythm with the music, dancing around the room, her feet stomping and tapping the floor perfectly in beat with the song he felt himself rising to join her, the need to dance overpowering. He whirled around the room with her, in a manner his mother would have given anything to have seen him dance at her many formal parties. The girl ended the song and suddenly the fog in his mind cleared. Thor shook himself and looked at the girl wide eyed.

       "What in the name of the Allfather was that?" He asked her. He tried to find the anger within himself, but the music had left him with a deep inner peace.

       "That is my weapon." She said simply. She carefully replaced the delicate wooden instrument in its case. "I am the most powerful child of my mother since Orpheus. My music, my voice, can be as persuasive as charmspeak, as good a healer as ambrosia, a greater inspiration than the internet. I have no need for mortal weapons when I can play." She said simply. Thor was suddenly frightened of this slip of a girl. She could fight with her fists, but her true power lay in her ability to twist the mind.

       "You are a fine musician." He said stiffly. She smiled at him.

       "If you're wondering if what you feel now is my doing it isn't. I can only bring out what is already there. Otherwise when I stop playing the feelings I create fade, almost immediately. Like how you stopped dancing the second I stopped playing." Thor relaxed and smiled at her. He enjoyed this peace he felt within, and was glad it was his own.

       "One day, I'd like for you to play that for me without sorcery." Sy laughed softly, her head tipping forward in acceptance. However, only a moment later, her smile vanished; replaced with an expression of concern.

       "I don't understand one thing though."

       "And what would that be?" He asked her curiously.

       "How is it that when I play for you, my power flows through the air, and into your soul as easily as it would any other who listens; but when I came to your brother it does not?" Thor froze for a moment at the implications.

       "I cannot influence someone who is already being influenced. That's not what I do. Not who I am. Thor Odinson, I don't know what is going on. But I do know that Loki is not the mastermind behind this scheme. I can't even tell if he wants to be involved at all."

       Thor opened his mouth to respond, when they were interrupted by a soft tapping. He looked up in time to see a streak of bronze fly through the air and a timid looking agent flinch away quickly.

       A bronze blade was wedged in the door, sunk halfway to the hilt in the metal. The agent squeaked in fear.

       "Fury wants Thor in the lab. Syrinx is..." A second knife flew through the air, this one steel, lodging next to the other one. The agent flinched again.

       "You're  _both_  wanted in the lab." The agent corrected. Syrinx, no  _Sy_ , smiled sweetly before plucking the knives out of the frame.

       "Shoo mouse." She said. The agent scampered off instantly. Turning back to the god she shrugged.

       "Just because I don't need regular weapons doesn't mean I don't use them." Thor laughed, following the strange godling out the door.


	16. Chapter 16

_Sy_

       She wasn't sure what was so urgent that Fury had called Thor to the lab, but she wasn't about to let him tell her, a  _two_  time war veteran, stay away. Besides, she wanted to see what Tony and Bruce had found while she'd been away. Hopefully it will have nothing to do with her or Olympus. Because if it does, well...

       Not even Thor could save her or the helicarrier from her grandfather's wrath.


	17. Chapter 17

_Sy_

       "I'm sorry Nick, but what were you lying?" She could hear Tony from the hallway.

       "I was wrong Director. The world hasn't changed a bit." That was Steve. Bruce looked at Natasha as they walked into the lab.

       "Did you know about this?" He asked the redhead. Sy looked at the screen they were pointing at. On it was the schematics from some kind of weapon. A real version of it was sitting on the lab table in front of her.

       "Fury, what in  _Hades_  were you thinking?" Sy snarled even as Natasha asked Bruce to leave.

       "I was in Calcutta, I was pretty well removed." He snorted. Sy stomped towards the computer screen, swiping through the data. Each swipe made her stomach drop further. How the man didn't learn his lesson the first time around she didn't know, but she knew this time, the consequences were going to bite him in the  _podex_. She would make sure of it.

       "I would like to know why SHIELD is using the Tesseract to build weapons of mass destruction." Bruce walked next to her, changing the screen again. Fury gave them all hard looks. Then he caved.

       "Because of them." He gestured at both Thor and Sy. She snarled even as Thor looked surprised.

       "Me?" Thor asked.

       "Last year Earth had a visitor from another planet that leveled a small town. We learned, that not only are we not alone. But that we are hopelessly,  _hilariously_ , outgunned " He paused. Sy stood up, her whole body shaking with anger. Her hand twitched towards her knives. Fury was dangerously out of line. Even if he said nothing about her, she knew he was hoping if it could fight an Asgardian, it could fight a god. But he would be wrong. And he would bring death and destruction like the world hasn't seen in millennia for trying.

       "My people want nothing but peace with your planet." Thor insisted.

       "But you aren't the only people out there are you. And you're not the only threat." At this Fury looked right at her. Syrinx snarled.

       "You are making a dangerous mistake Fury. You were warned once. I am warning you again. This, this,  _hubris_  will bring nothing but carnage. To think I  _helped_  you the first time." She snarled at him, lunging forward. Tony grabbed her upper arm with an iron grip.

       "Look Sy, as much as I'd love to see you try to kill The Spy, I've decided I actually care about you reaching high school graduation day. Wait for a better time." He muttered into her ear. She ripped her arm out of his hand, but stayed put.

       "The world is filling up with people who can't be matched. They can't be controlled." This time she knew he was looking at her.

       "Like you controlled the cube?" Steve questioned.

       "You're work with the Tesseract is what drew Loki to it. And his allies. It is a signal to all the realms that the Earth is ready for a higher form of war." Thor warned him stepping closer.

       "A higher form?" Steve asked sharply. Tony broke in.

       "A nuclear deterrent. Because that calms everything right down." he said sarcastically.

       "You were already warned against this once  _Nick_ ,' Sy spit out his first name angrily, 'and my grandfather is not a strong believer in second chances. You throw away both our lives with this idiocy!" Fear began to creep through her, adrenaline racing through her body.

       "Remind me again how we met Syrinx? Or how you made your fortune Stark?" Fury asked cooly. Steve stepped forward.

       "I'm sure if he still made weapons, Stark would be neck deep in..." Tony interrupted.

       "Wait, wait. Hold on, how is this now about me?" He asked indignantly. The two men stepped closer to each other, looking like they were about to break into a fist fight.

       "I thought humans were more evolved than this." Thor said. Fury turned on him in a heartbeat.

       "Excuse me, but did we come to your planet and blow things up?" Sy snapped at Fury.

       "No you tried that on me." Thor looked between her and Fury with shock.

       "Do you always treat your champions with such mistrust?" He asked with complete bewilderment. Natasha broke in.

       "Are you really that naive? SHIELD monitors potential threats."

       "Capitan America is on threat watch?" Bruce scoffed. The assassin turned on him.

       "We all are." Sy growled at Fury.

       "I better not be. I plan to graduate high school before I get smote for something  _you_  do." The arguments get louder, but suddenly this odd watery sound was irritating her ears. She shook her head, trying to dislodge the sound. It was like being underwater while someone was shouting on land. It was really annoying. She could hardly even hear them arguing anymore.

       "Threat! Verbal threat. I feel threatened." Stark's voice was the last thing she heard before the sound changed to an odd buzzing and she grabbed at her head. Nobody noticed. The sound changed, the pitch dropping suddenly into a heavy hum, the fluctuation making her dizzy. But now she could hear the conversation again.

       "You speak of control, yet you court chaos." Thor's deep voice broke through the fog.

       "This is the MO isn't it? I mean what are we a team? No, no, no. we're a chemical mixture that makes chaos. We're, we're a  _time bomb_." Bruce said. Everyone had gone quiet to listen to him but now Fury stepped forward.

       "You, need to step away." He warned. The sound changed, becoming more painful, rather than annoying. It felt like a bee had crawled into her ear and was screaming at her.

       "Why shouldn't the guy let off a little steam?" Tony asked, slapping Steve's shoulder. The super soldier slapped his arm away in anger.

       "You know damn well why. Back off." He snapped. She gripped her head tighter. The shouting wasn't helpful. She knew what the sound was now, it was that damn scepter. She felt the slow creep of someone else's influence reaching for her mind. Sy wondered how angry Fury would be if she broke it to make it stop. Sy decided she didn't care. She stumbled back, loosing her equilibrium as she attempted to reach the source of her pain. She had a bad feeling the influence she was feeling, the odd sound she could hear, had something to do with the quickly increasing tension in the room.

       The scepter had to go.

       "Oh, I'm starting to want you to make me." Tony challenged. Sy knew something was wrong, that they were being controlled, but she couldn't move past the sounds in her head to tell them. The pressure from the noises she was hearing were hurting her more now. A small whimper of pain passed through her lips but everyone else was too engrossed by the fight brewing between Stark and Rogers to notice.

       "Yeah. Big man in a suit of armor. Take that off and what are you?" Steve took the bait, stepping into the verbal ring Tony had built.

       "Genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist." Tony listed without missing a beat.

       "I know guys with none of that worth ten of you. I've seen the footage. The only thing you really fight for is yourself." Steve said, disgust dripping from his tone. The pitch changed again and she doubled over, clutching her hair. She couldn't move forwards at all; the foreign power hurting her to badly to stop it from affecting the others.

       Nobody saw, everyone was turned away from her, watching Stark and Rogers argue.

       "You're not the guy to make the sacrifice play. To lay down on a wire and let the other guy crawl over  _you_."

       "I think I would just cut the wire." Tony replied. Steve snorted softly, as though he'd already won.

       "Always a way out. You know you may not be a threat, but you better stop pretending to be a hero." Sy laughed internally, even as she grappled with the sound that was going to bring her to her knees. The heroes  _she_  knew, were worth more than everyone on the helicarrier combined.

       "A hero? Like you? You're a laboratory experiment Rogers. Everything special about you came out of a bottle." Tony spat back. Sy nearly crumpled to the ground, no longer processing anything but the pain. It was all she could do to fight off the insidious influence of the scepter. Or more accurately, what was _inside_ the scepter.  

       "Put on the suit. Let's go a few rounds." Steve challenged. Thor laughed. The sound grated on her already overstimulated ears.

       "You mortals are so petty. And tiny."

       "Agent Romanoff can you escort..."

       "Where? You..." She was only catching flashes of conversation now and the sound was rising in pitch, getting worse. It was like a powerboat engine whirred directly in her head while someone was scraping nails on chalkboard while an entire orchestra played in the wrong key, out of time and off pitch. It was horrendous.

       "Just a precaution..." She shook her head like a dog, as though the sharp movements could dislodge the horrible sound.

       "You can't, believe me I tried." Bruce snapped. Sy dragged herself back into the conversation. Something in her ADHD brain had caught a strong message and she knew she  _had_  to hear it. Even if she was hurting. Dr. Banner looked a bit like a deer in headlights.

       "I got low. I didn't see an end, so I put a bullet in my mouth and the Other Guy spit it out. So I moved on, I focused on helping..." She lost the conversation, her will power crumbling under the pressure of the sound in her sensitive ears. It was like a physical thing was trying to hack its way into her brain through her inner ear canal.

       A machine beeped and that was the tipping point. She heard them begin to argue again but the words weren't computing. The pressure grew and then she couldn't hold it in anymore. She collapsed to the floor and let out an agonized scream as she mentally pushed back against what she could now understand as a soft male voice whispering commands into her head. She vacantly wondered through the pain if this is what Loki felt while holding the scepter.

_'No wonder he lacks conviction.'_  She though as her vision began to black out.

       "Oh, my god." Bruce's voice came through even as Thor and Fury's faces swam into her view. Then something exploded.


	18. Chapter 18

_Sy_

       Most days, an explosion would suck. People generally don't like those. But today Sy couldn't help but feel grateful to the explosion of sound that knocked out whatever that scepter had been doing to her head. It was like her mind got a reset, and her head cleared and she could think and move to her own whims again.

       Her body had been blasted into a wall next to Fury. The director helped her sit up before contacting Agent Hill.

       "Hill!" He called. Sy shook out the last of the ringing in her ears to listen to her response.

       "External detonation. Number three engine is down!" She let Fury worry over her a minute before stuffing a square of ambrosia into her mouth. She heard Hill tell Fury that it would be nearly impossible to patch the engine. He just gave her a look before asking for Stark. Sy took off down the hallway, dodging agents left and right. Her armor, thank the gods, was unpacked. All she needed was to get to it.

       She collided with Stark and Rogers in the armory even as agents began to lock it down.

       "Exit 3. I'll meet you there." Tony told Steve. Both men looked at her.

       "Go to your room, it's not safe." Steve ordered. She snorted.

       "Fury didn't bring me here to sit on my ass. Exit three. I'll meet you there." She sprinted off down the hall, ripping open the locker with her armor. She prayed to Ares and Athena as she quickly strapped on her armor. Then reluctantly she unfurled her wings. A gift that a child of a muse hasn't received since ancient times. She'd been given them after she'd met Fury the first time, and the gods made her their liaison between the two worlds. It was supposed to make things easier, and in someways it did. But mostly Fury just made her life difficult, until even with the gift of the wings she'd been forced to cut nearly all ties with him until now. 

       They were her best tools in combat against monsters. She gently slid the plating over the tops of her wings, making sure they covered the muscles that connect them to her back. She shivered as the cold metal went over her sensitive wings. The Hephaestus cabin had modeled her armor after Daedalus's wings, so that the metal shielding wouldn't get in the way of her flight. It had been some of Beckendorff's finest work before he'd died. She grabbed the steel sword that Fury had made for her. Properly armored, she raced to the exit.

       Outside the door she found Steve and Tony working on the engine.

       "I need you to get to that engine control panel and tell me which relays are in overload position." Tony flew away. Steve was about to jump when she smiled.

       "How about a lift?" She offered. Steve looked confused and then panicked when she gracefully fell over the side of the broken walkway. With two strong beats of her wings she pulled up in front of him, her feathers twitching to keep her in position. Steve frowned

       "Are you sure?" Sy smirked and grabbed him by the arms.

       "I wouldn't have offered if I wasn't sure." She dropped him next to the relay panel. She landed carefully on the narrow walkway, folding her wings behind her back, letting the ends of her wings trail against the ground. It tickled her primaries.

       "What's it look like in there?" She heard Tony's voice, small and staticky over the earpiece Steve wore. He glanced at her helplessly.

       "It seems to run on some form of electricity."

       "Well, you're not wrong." Tony said. Steve turned to her.

       "I know about as much as you do. Me and technology are a dangerous combination." Fury's voice came over the line.

       "Rogers! If Syrinx is with you tell her she need to get to Natasha now. The Hulk is out of control!" She smiled at Steve as he turned to her, a worried expression on his face.

       "I heard him. You boys have this engine under control?"

       "The Hulk is dangerous." Steve warned. Sy hummed a short melody, infusing him with bravery.

       "Like I said before. I wouldn't have offered if I didn't mean it."

* * *

       She flew around the side of the helicarrier as quickly as she could, staying tucked closely to the side of the flying monstrosity; using the air currents around the ship to help her fly even faster. She heard a loud roar and knew she found the right area. She flew back a bit and then with a few powerful thrusts, crashed straight through a window, several pipes and collided right into the body of the Hulk.

       The two of them crashed right through a wall into a cargo bay. She fell away from the Hulk, her wings tucked around her body as she rolled. She glanced up and her eyes widened. The Hulk was fast. The green monster was already barreling towards her, when a flash of metal slammed into him, the scent of ozone crackling in the air.

       Thor offered her a hand up. They stood together, facing the Hulk. Bruce's Mr. Hyde. For a moment the two sides were still. The Hulk charged with a roar, his punches swinging wildly. Sy didn't bother unsheathing her sword. It wouldn't do much to him, and even if it could hurt him, she didn't want to hurt him. Of all the idiots Fury managed to collect, he was her favorite.

       "We are not your enemies Banner. Try to think." Thor grunted as he caught two of the Hulk's blows. Sy rolled under his legs, lashing out with her feet, forcing the Hulk to kneel. As she rolled to her feet, Hulk punches Thor into some concrete. She winced in sympathy before diving out of the way of Hulk's next attack on her.

       The monster roared. Sy started to hum, praying to her mother. She channeled every sweet lyric she'd ever heard, every beautiful melody she'd ever played, every peaceful moment she'd ever had. She felt her will move into the song, not nearly as potent as it could be if she had an instrument, but she prayed it would be enough.

       It wasn't.

       The Hulk ran at her and she barely moved out of the way in time. She dodged another blow and slammed her fists as hard as she could into the pressure points that lined his shoulder. Had the Hulk been  _literally_  anything else, excluding the major gods, his entire arm would have been rendered useless. That trick had even worked on Hyperborean Giants during the Battle of Manhattan. But no. The Hulk just  _had_  to be special. This time she didn't move fast enough and Hulk threw her into Thor. They both crashed through several shipping containers, the god taking the brunt of the damage. Thor smirked as he thrust out a hand for his hammer. Then he gave her a funny look.

       "Can you not calm him? With your music?"

       "I tried! I need an instrument for that to work! My voice isn't powerful enough!" She half shrieked at him in frustration. It irritated her that the god was so calm. But then again, this fight was probably more entertaining than training on Asgard. When she fought regular monsters she felt the exact same way. But this wasn't a regular monster. Inside, he was a man she respected.

       "Then I advise you to take up your blade." She shook her head.

       "Didn't Fury tell you anything? The Hulk is practically indestructible. And mortal. Even if I could hurt him, I'm not allowed to." Mjolner flew into the god's hand and he turned and smashed it into the Hulk's face.

       "Then I suppose it is fortunate for you, that I can."


	19. Chapter 19

_Sy_

       The Hulk and her crashed through the ceiling. If he stayed in the helicarrier much longer, it wouldn't matter if Tony and Steve ever  _did_ manage to fix that engine, the rest of the carrier would already be destroyed. She heard something announced over the PA system but she ignored it. Instead she rolled to the side as Thor crashed into a wall, while she searched for inspiration.

       She found a Phil Coulson, thinking about the power of a Phase 2 weapon. She pulled at the energy and blasted the Hulk straight out the window. The Hulk roared, having managed to catch the ledge of the helicarrier. She pulled at the reserves of her energy and blasted him again.

       This time is was too weak.

       The Hulk was climbing back aboard the carrier. She opened her mouth and sang a quick scale, trying to slow him down but the continued use of power was draining her and it wasn't efficiant. What she really needed was an instrument. The only person who had ever resisted her music completely was Loki.

       Well, she wasn't suicidal enough to try her magic on a major god. But it worked against a titan.

       So she took a deep breath, working up her courage. Then she did a Percy Jackson, and with two flaps of her wings she barreled into the Hulk's midsection, sending them both into free fall.

* * *

       She folded her wings as tightly to her body as she could with the armor she wore, not daring to open her wings in fear of having them ripped off by the enraged Hulk. So far all he seemed to want to do is shake and roar at her, but she couldn't be sure. He roared into her face and then, suddenly, tossed her away.

       Sy was so surprised it took her a few seconds to realize what he had done. Then it was another few seconds to position herself in a spread eagle form to slow her decent. Then another second to prepare herself for the strain her next choice was going to be on her wings. Then with a snap, her wings opened.

       Fifteen feet across, her wings caught her body with a heavy jerk. Her muscles burned and she knew that she'd have to ice them. This wasn't an injury she should, or would, waste ambrosia on. She looked up, spinning as she gained altitude. The helicarrier was dropping, and quickly. Sy flew higher into the air, her wings catching air currents as she chased the sinking ship.

       Her flight was sloppy, her feathers in complete disarray, but she managed to find the same exit she had left from earlier. Only this time, she saw Steve hanging on to a cord, dangling beneath it. Suddenly, the cord broke, Captain America falling towards her.

       "No!" She shrieked. Wildly beating her wings she flew to intercept him. Sy just barely caught his arm.

       "I gotta get to that red lever!" He shouted to her over the wind. She glanced up and saw what he was pointing at. The only problem was, that there was a man with a gun shooting at them. And demigods are not bullet proof. She hauled him higher.

       "Grab my shoulders. This is going to to be rough." She warned. He nodded and did as she asked. Sy flew back a little, then tipped her wings towards the functioning engine. There was just enough wind to quickly propel them to the walkway while she tucked her armored wings around them. Hopefully, the celestial bronze armor would work like a shield, and protect both of them from bullets.

       "Here goes nothing." She muttered. She shot towards the lever, then as the gun went off she spun, tucking her armored wings around them, shielding the captain. A searing pain grazed her wingtips, something burning her primary feathers. In another part of her mind she felt a strange  _pull,_ the pain throwing her off her flight path slightly. She felt a heavy presence tear away from her subconscious.

       She screamed, and having lost track of her own movements, they crashed heavily into the metal catwalk, her body and wings taking the brunt of the impact. She could feel her muscles tearing, her feathers getting ripped out. But the worst part was the odd pain in her mind, the weight of whatever it was gone. It only contributed to the emptiness she felt, the complete absence of godly power on the ship creating a vacuum in her mind. Something had to have gone terribly wrong.

       Steve reached up and yanked the red lever down, his arm reaching over her as he threw his body over her in order to shield her from the bullets still spraying down on them. She heard a loud clattering and a sputter from behind them when a red and gold blur blew past them, crashing into the gunman.

       Steve gently her rolled over, pulled her away from the edge. She just took deep, shaking breaths as tears of pain trailed down her face. She couldn't move, the burning in every inch of her wings was so bad. Every movement jostled her injured, and  _highly_  sensitive, wings. Sy slowly forced herself into a seated position, letting out a hoarse scream as the pain from the damaged feathers and muscles computed in her brain.

_'Demigod genetics my ass.'_

       "Remind me to  _never_  do that again." She whimpered, leaning against the wall. Steve just slumped next to her, exhausted.


	20. Chapter 20

_Steve_

       He watched as the girl, Syrinx, winced while stretching out her wing. That was why she was really on this ship. Just another misfit Fury collected to use in his schemes. But Steve suspected she was something more. Because she wasn't a consultant like Tony, an agent like Romanoff, or a scientist like Banner. And she was definitely not an alien 'god'. But she was fighting like a pro, a soldier, even though she was just a kid. It made every fiber of his being uncomfortable, but he knew they would need her. She had saved his life, and Tony's. Syrinx had more than proven herself.

       She was taking Coulson's death hard. She refused all medical assistance, waved off both himself and Tony; flat out glared at Fury, she'd thrown her helmet at the man. Instead she rested with her wings folded loosely behind her as she idly plucked at her violin. She took a couple sips of what looked like apple juice, before she raised her bow and began to play a soft melody.

       " _The Lark Ascending._  Ralph Vaughan Williams." She said quietly as her fingers tripped across the strings. Her wrist shook gently with the vibrato notes, and her whole body swayed with the music. Tony walked in, his face patched up from his tussle with the engine turbine. The two men sat and listened to her play. Tears dripped down her face, even as her eyes fluttered closed. Steve felt oddly cloudy, his own grief and regret rising and falling with the music until it poured out of him as he swayed with the song. As the final notes came to a close, he let out a breath, all the pain from losing a comrade in battle slowly leaving his body until all he felt was the numb exhaustion that followed an intense fight. He could feel the lingering grief, but it no longer threatened to overwhelm him.

       "What was that?" Tony asked her quietly.

       "Something for Phil. Something for me. Something for you. Something for them. A cleansing of sorts." She answered vaguely, tucking her violin under her arm. Fury walked into the room, inspecting something in his hand.

       "These, were in Phil Coulson's jacket." Fury tossed a handful of bloody trading cards onto the table. Steve felt his heart sink. He should have signed them, instead of brushing the man off.

       "I guess he never did get you to sign them." Steve picked up one of them, turning it over to look at a familiar figure. Fury continued.

       "We're dead in the air up here. Our communications. Location of the cube. Banner. Thor. I got nothing for you. Lost my one good eye. Maybe I had that coming. Yes, we were going to build an arsenal with the Tesseract. I never put all my chips on that number though, because I was playing something even riskier." Fury sighed. Syrinx had tensed when he had mentioned the Tesseract. Steve couldn't bring himself to focus on the winged teenager.

       "There was an idea, Stark, knows this. Syrinx too, called the Avengers Initiative. The idea was to bring together a group of remarkable people, to see if they could become something more. To see if they could work together, when we needed them to, in order to fight the battles that we never could. Phil Coulson died, still believing in that idea." Syrinx abruptly stood and walked out, carrying her violin with her. Fury didn't blink at her abrupt departure.

       "In heroes." Tony quickly followed. Steve tensed at the director's parting shot; watching as the one eyed spy turned away from the nearly empty conference table.

       "Well. it's an old fashioned notion."


	21. Chapter 21

_Sy_

_'How dare he.'_  Sy seethed. ' _How dare Fury use Phil's death to manipulate us. How dare he act as though his death is just an unfortunate casualty of war! How dare he! If only he had listened. He was warned! I warned him not to meddle with power he didn't understand. I warned him that Nemesis wasn't kind. She cares only for balance. Never how she achieves it. I warned him and he didn't listen!'_  Sy fumed as she stormed away. She wasn't sure where her feet were taking her yet, but she wanted to be away from Fury and his idiocy.

      The gods had warned him when he had tried to build a weapon he could use against Olympus, that a second infraction against the gods would extract a serious price. After all, Syrinx had saved him, shielded him from their wrath. And she had paid the price. She'd been sent into the mortal world, unarmed, her wings damaged almost beyond repair, with no way to get in contact with camp for months and a directive to become the bridge between SHIELD and the Olympians if she lived. She'd nearly died, had come so close she'd seen Thanatos several times before sheer determination and a few lucky moments kept her tethered to the mortal world.

      And here they were again. Fury meddling with power he didn't understand to deter threats that were not relevant to him, and somebody else paid the price. This time, with their life.

      Sy found herself in front of the spot Phil had died. Blood stained the metal where his body had slumped against it. Her breathing was shaky. Her wings rustled, still smarting and sore, but she'd managed to repair most of the feathers. The nectar she drank was kicking in, healing the rest. But until then, there was still pain. And above all; guilt.

      She'd known something was off about the trickster god and never said a word. But it seemed that the control the scepter had over the mind could be broken. Broken quite easily in fact. All it took was a strong knock to the head. Phil didn't have to die. Clint didn't need to kill his friends. And Loki didn't need to incite a war for a planet he didn't care for; leaving Thor to fight his own brother over a betrayal that a few thousand years ago wouldn't have meant anything between them.

      Sy stared at the place he'd died; trying to calm her shaking hands. Flashes of her past blurring with the present; a potent cocktail of pain and guilt and fear and trauma. She heard Tony enter the room behind her. She noticed when Steve joined them too. She just kept staring at the bloody metal, remembering the screams of her friends, shouts of an injured soldier the explosions of the onagers and greek fire hurled from both sides. The cries of the wounded and dying. The awful snarling of monsters and the horrific roars of giants or titans or drakons or any of the hundred of other things she'd fought. She remembered how a few months ago, the bloody metal was her blade, cutting through the bodies of monsters and enemy demigods alike. When during war it wasn't just an agent she'd liked, even admired, but her friends and family who had fallen in battle.

      "Was he married?" Steve's voice broke through her spiraling thoughts.

      "No. There was, a uh, cellist. I think." Tony answered, Sy's fists clenched. Audrey Nathan. She played for the Portland Symphony as the second chair cellist. She was talented, could have been first chair if she wanted, but Audrey had liked the freedom being second chair had given her. Phil had taken her to meet Audrey once, they'd played together. It had been fun. He'd introduced her as his niece.

      "He seemed like a good man." Steve said. Sy didn't even look up.

      "He was." She said shortly. Tony, apparently disagreed.

      "He was an idiot."

      "Why? For believing?" Steve asked him incredulously.

      "For taking on Loki alone." Tony replied. She could hear his expensive shoes scuffing along the metal of the walkway. Sy flexed her wings gently as she turned around to face them both. Steve was leaning against the door frame, and Tony was backing away from the edge of the railing.

      "He was doing his job." The soldier said evenly. Tony scoffed.

      "He was out of his league. He should have waited, he should have..." He puffed out a breath. They both started to walk towards her, while focusing on the other man.

      "Sometimes there isn't a way out Tony." Steve said gently. Sy noticed that it was the first time he'd called the other man by his first name, rather than his last.

      "Right, because I haven't heard that." Tony snorted.

      "Is this the first time you've lost a soldier?" Steve asked. Tony whirled on the older man.

      "We are  _not_  soldiers." Tony he snapped. But when he caught sight of her, Tony sighed as he noticed her flinch. He softened his tone.

      "I'm not marching to Fury's fife." The billionaire insisted.

      "Neither am I. He's got the same blood on his hands that Loki does. But right now we've got to put this behind us, and get this done." Steve told him firmly. Sy flexed her wings again. They felt fine, a little sore, but fine. She finally pulled them in all the way, making more room on the narrow walkway for them all.

      "Loki needs a power source." She said softly, offering them both a starting point. She didn't think Loki actually cared about winning this battle, or this war; but he  _was_  committed to starting it. Sy didn't think he had enough free will to stop the invasion entirely. Steve gave her an encouraging smile while Tony glanced at the bloody metal she'd been staring at.

      "If we can put together a list of-" Tony cut Steve off.

      "He made it personal."

      "That's not the point." Steve frowned at Tony again. Tony brushed off the silent reprimand, going off on his own tangent.

      "That is the point. That's Loki's point. He hit us all right where we live. Why?"

      "To tear us apart." Steve responded. But Sy's mind was whirring. You can't live as a demigod as long as she has and not pick up a thing or two from the Athena kids about strategy. Tony was right. Something else was at play here. Something important. A great  _trick_.

      "Divide and conquer is great, but he knows he has to take us out to win, right? That's what he wants."

      "He wants to beat us. And he wants to be seen doing it." Sy said, forcing herself to think about the war, instead of the battle. Thinking along with Tony, even as her mind moved in a different direction. There was no winning for Loki. Not while that scepter held most of his will hostage. No, he needs something; something to break free.

      Sy had no doubt  _that_  was what Loki wanted most of all.

      "He wants an audience." Tony said, pacing.

      "Yeah, we caught his act in Stuttgart." Steve said, clearly not following either train of thought.

      "Yeah, but that was previews. And this is opening night, and Loki, he is a full tilt diva. He wants flowers, he wants parades, he wants a monument to the skies with his name plastered-" Tony's eyes widen almost comically.

      "Son of a bitch."


	22. Chapter 22

_Sy_

       Between the damage to Tony's suit from the turbine, and her injuries, they were pretty evenly matched in the flight back to the tower. She'd added a helmet to her _'suit'_ as Steve called it, in order to mask her identity. It was a condition when Zeus had authorized her role in the upcoming battle. The Mist could protect a single demigod, when surrounded by something even stranger. But she knew that the rest of camp would not be able to back her up. Not only have the gods forbidden it, but it was also  _her_  quest and therefore her fight.

       "Shut it down Dr. Selvig." She ordered. Tony's suit stuttered beside her as they hovered in the air above him. Sy frowned as she looked at the astrophysicist's blue blue eyes, the shade uncomfortably familiar. 

       "It's too late! She can't stop now." The astrophysicist turned to face the sky. "She wants to show us something! A new universe." She exchanged glances with Tony. The other man shrugged helplessly. Not like they could convince a mind controlled puppet to stop. No, they had to break the mind control. With Clint Barton, a good knock to the head seemed to have worked out ok. But she was a little worried about hitting an old man over the head. She didn't want to kill him accidentally.

       "Ok." Tony muttered before blasting the device on his tower. The shockwave blasted them both back, sending her tumbling head over scapulars. By the time she righted herself, she saw Tony walking into his tower, without his armor, with  _Loki_.

_'Idiot.'_  She stretched out her wings, circling the tower in an easy, languid holding pattern. If blasting it didn't work, she doubted that anything else she did would be particularly helpful. At least not against an Infinity Stone. No that would take the power of an Olympian god to break. So she waited.

       She heard glass shattering and she dove down after the falling man.

       "Need any help?" She called, keeping pace with Tony's drop. She heard a second window shatter, glass sprinkling down on the two of them. A red box flew out of the window, red lights scanning his wrists. A few seconds later a new suit covered his body. He pulled out of his fall, flying next to her.

       "I think I'm good." She shook her head, covering her worry.

       "Let's go stop a god, shall we?" She offered. Together they flew back up to the broken window. They hovered in front of the shattered window, facing the surprised god. Sy examined his blue blue eyes, searching for the flickers of green she'd spotted periodically. The god was fighting the control, but it would take a lot to control a god; even if they were one of the  _Aesir._ Whoever held Loki's strings was powerful, and they'd need to cut them very carefully.

       Sy was pulled out of her own thoughts as she heard Tony's voice drift through his mask, mechanical and cold.

       "And there is one other person you pissed off. His name was Phil." With that Tony blasted Loki.


	23. Chapter 23

_Sy_

       The portal opened with a soft rumble, and almost immediately hordes of alien soldiers began to pour through. They were big and grey and ugly. Even her ADHD couldn't keep up with the sheer numbers coming through. Her and Tony began ripping through Loki's army, him with his rockets, and her with her sword.

       She flew higher and higher, slicing through limbs, stabbing into heads and barreling into bodies. She destroyed the strange flying machines they drove as she flew past. She tossed a knife at one that was trying to shoot Tony in the back. She dodged another blast from the Chitauri weapons and then dove. She swooped over screaming civilians, ducking and weaving, getting the aliens to shoot at each other by mistake. Tony flew past, a horde of aliens in pursuit. She flapped harder, surging higher into the air, cutting down as many as she could reach.

* * *

       Sy spun and ducked and slashed her way through the army of aliens when she heard a terrible sound. A roar that reminded her of the Lydian Drakon that had attacked during the Second Olympian War. She turned around to look.

       A huge  _something_ , swam through the portal. It looked like a really long turtle, if she was honest. If a turtle had a crazy exoskeleton and had little alien soldier parasites leaping off of it. It was  _huge_. And it was barreling right towards her. Sy spun around and took off, moving as quickly as her wings allowed.

       Diving down, she saw Steve crouching on the hood of a police car. From behind, several aliens attacked. She was about to swoop down and help when he easily kills them all by himself. She spun, her sword out, slicing into another attacker as she followed Steve up the street where Natasha and Clint were about to be overwhelmed. She joined in hacking the aliens to pieces, her wings just as much of a weapon as the rest of her body was.

       Lightning stuck, killing three aliens behind her even as she kicked the body of the fourth off her blade. Thor landed unsteadily. She tossed him a square of ambrosia. She'd already eaten a little herself. The god flashed her an appreciative glance as he took a bite of the godly food.

       "What's the story upstairs." Steve asked, perfectly calm.

       "The power surrounding the cube is impenetrable." The god said grimly. Tony flew in over head.

       "Thor's right, we gotta deal with these guys." He flew away just as quickly. Natasha looked about a thousand feet out of her depth. Then again, she was never a soldier.

       "How do we do this?" She asked uncertainty.

       "As a team." Steve replied.

       "I have unfinished business with Loki." Thor stated.

       "Get in line." Clint grumbled, checking his arrows. Sy frowned. The god was mind controlled. While there were signs of him fighting back against it, he couldn't be held accountable for most of his actions over the past week. But either way, Loki would have to be delivered before either Zeus or Odin, to face up to his past crimes; and  _hopefully_  acquit him of the current ones. But she had her own doubts; neither god was particularly well known for being reasonable. Although Odin was less likely to kill her for trying to help his adoptive son.

       "Save it. Loki is going to keep this fight focused on us, and that's what we need. Without it these things could run wild. We've got Stark and Sy up top, they're gonna need us-"He was cut off by the sound of an old engine. They all turned to see Bruce puttering up on an elderly motorcycle. Sy smiled as everyone walked over to him.

       "So. This all seems... horrible." Bruce said uneasily. Sy snorted.

       "I've seen worse." He gave her an incredulous look.

       "Sorry." She shrugged at him. She really had. War is messy. This battle was just another notch in the belt. Natasha gave him an odd look. 

       "We could use a little worse." The spy gave Bruce a little nod. Sy didn't have time to wonder about that because she hears the loud roar of the flying monster, closer than before. Tony was flying up the street, the giant space turtle on his tail.

       "I don't see how that's a party." Natasha said.

       "I really need to get an earpiece." Sy muttered as she backed away, glancing around her. She spotted a partially destroyed music store. She ran for the smashed display case, keeping one eye on the fast approaching space turtle.

       Bruce looks back at everyone before walking towards the monster. Steve stepped forward.

       "Dr. Banner. Now might be a really good time for you to get angry." Bruce glanced back one more time, an odd smile on his face.

       "That's my secret Captain. I'm always angry." And with those words, he changed into the Hulk. The Hulk leapt forward, smashing into the space turtle. The monster screamed as Tony shot it.

       She felt a wave of heat before a heavy weight crashed into her back, Clint tackling her behind a car. Sy pulled her armored wings over their heads, protecting them from the blast as best she could. When her wings stopped feeling hot, she peeked out, noting the splattered alien monster carcass on the street.

       The aliens screamed in rage and disbelief as the space turtle died. Sy felt proud to be with the team that killed it. She looked up. More space turtles, and more aliens, were swarming through the portal. She nudged Clint, who also glanced up. His face quickly paled.

       "Guys...' Sy said worriedly. Tony came in next to Steve.

       "Call it Captain."

       "Alright, listen up. Until we can close the portal, our priority is containment. Barton, I want you up on that roof, call out patterns and strays. Stark, you have the perimeter. Anything more than three blocks out, you either turn it back or turn it to ash." He ordered smoothly. Clint looked over at Tony.

       "Give me a lift?" Tony walked over and grabbed the back of his shirt.

       "Better clench up Legolas." After the two men left, Steve turned to her and Thor.

       "Thor, you gotta try to bottleneck that portal, slow them down. You got the lightning. Light the bastards up. Syrinx, you got wings, you help slow them down. You said you have a few tricks, use them." She nodded firmly, before glancing back at the music store and darted inside. Her hands hovered over the instruments, until she felt herself be drawn towards the display of string instruments. She grinned as she found an undamaged viola. And even better; it was electric. She raced outside with her prize, strapping a small speaker to her belt before she and took off after Thor.

* * *

       In the sky, lightning flashed all around her, Thor whipping up a huge storm. Sy swooped through the clouds, killing everything in her path. Finally she reached what felt like a mostly central point.

       She lashed out with her sword and her wings until the air around her had cleared. In the old stories, her brother Orpheus succeeded in convincing Hades to release Eurydice, not just because his music was  _good_ , but because the compulsion in the music  _forced_  him too. She prayed that she still had the strength for a trick like that. She sheathed her sword, turned on the speaker and raised her bow. A few of the grey aliens began to fly in her direction, but she ignored them. She took a deep breath and began to play.

       Her first notes came out hesitant, but as she played the song grew clearer. Heavy strokes of the bow, and quickly flying fingers Sy felt her power seep through the air. Aliens began to turn away from the city, firing on each other as those in earshot began to make their way back towards the portal. She flew steadily with them, her hands steady, wings beating powerfully as she spun her song through the air. Glancing down, she saw most of the ones she couldn't reach get cut down by the other Avengers and she smiled grimly. She continued to play, buying as much time as she could. Thor's lighting was blasting the aliens she held captive in her sway, cutting down the enemy in swaths. It almost felt  _wrong_  how easy it was to kill them. But Sy continued to play, pushing away that guilty thought for another day. For now, she would play, and play to defend her city. Her world. It was all she could do. So her fingers flowed over the fingerboard, the bows sketching out a pattern across the strings as she held the alien soldiers back with little more than sheer will.

       She heard from behind her an odd sound, and a heat seared her side. She was forced to stop playing to roll out of the path of the laser from one of the aliens not under her power. Her spell broke, and hundreds of aliens turned back towards the city. Sy panted heavily; dropping the viola as she reached for her sword. She was too tired to pull off a compulsion of that magnitude again anyways. She wasn't sure if she would even have to energy to physically fight anymore. But as the first wave of pissed off aliens began to swarm towards her, she brought herself into a ready position.

       They were on her in seconds.

       She swooped and dove, slashed and hacked. Transitioning from fighting in the air, to the ground to leaping from buildings and plunging from heights she didn't want to think about, even with her wings. She rolled out of the way of one attack, but a second blast hit a few of her unprotected secondary feathers. She shrieked in pain and outrage, killing the alien that hit her along with all his little buddies. She flew in next to Barton for a few minutes, and fought beside Tony the next. She would toss a few aliens from their flying contraptions and Hulk would catch her as she tucked in her wings to protect them. Steve threw his shield, saving her from an alien, then he'd remove the arm from another trying to shoot at Natasha. It was a blur of hack, slash, parry, kill, fly, land, kill, dodge, parry, fight, fight, fight, fight. There were just so many aliens.

* * *

       "Nat, you hijacked an alien." She said blandly, watching the assassin struggle to steer.

       "Uh, a little help!" Natasha shouted as she wavered on top on an alien. Sy swooped behind her, and spun, expecting a horde. Instead she had to swoop away from the blast of a gun as Loki bore down on her. With a shout she began to backwing, her wings snapping at the air, the celestial bronze flashing in the light. She slashed down at him, but he dodged out of the way. She whirled through the air, her whole body a weapon. She heard the flight path of an arrow, but it was different than a regular arrow. She dropped away just as the god caught the arrow. Sy noticed the little red light. She lifted her fingers to her mouth and let out sharp whistle. The sound jarred Loki and then the arrow exploded. She let backlash of the explosion push her away, the newly heated air creating new drafts for her to soar across. She watched Loki land on the balcony of Stark tower, rolling back to his feet.

       She landed on the balcony gently, her large wings folding behind her neatly. She swung the sword in her hand almost lazily, in looping circles as she approached the god.

_"Trespasser."_  She hissed. But then a green blur shot past her, crashing into Loki. The Hulk roared at Loki and she came to a stop next to him.

       "Enough! You are, all of you, beneath me." Loki shouted petulantly, his blue blue eyes completely dull.

       "I am a  _god_  you dull creature. And I will not be bullied-" Sy glanced at Hulk then stepped back, gesturing  _'all yours_ ' to the green monster. With a roar he snatched Loki by the ankle and smashed the god's body into the floor over and over again.

       "Puny god." Hulk grunted after he dropped Loki to the floor. Sy sighed as Loki let out a low whine. He wasn't going anywhere. She watched Hulk leave out the window, heading off to fight more enemies. Sy sat down on the floor next to the god, watching him carefully.

       His eyes flickered oddly again. Sy smiled as she observed him. Then she began to hum. As she hummed she watched the god fight for control.

       Blue to green, blue to green, blue to green.

       Finally his eyes settled. Green.

       The battered and bruised god looked up at her from his place slumped on the floor.

      _"Thank you."_ He groaned quietly. Sy smiled at him softly. She reached into her pocket, pulling out her last square of crushed ambrosia.

       "I think you have something important to do now." The god sighed unhappily as he gazed outside.

       "I suppose I do, don't I little godling?"

       Loki took the healing food, and within moments, both of them were back outside, ready to dive into the melee.

* * *

       She grunted as a blast glanced off her shoulder. The armor protected her, but the next blast that followed seared her secondary covert feathers. She could fly, but not well. She landed with a stumble, her hands flying to her shoulder, where the alien weapon tore into her muscle. A hand steadied her, and she glanced up to see Loki determinedly wielding his daggers. They'd discovered, that as soon as the mind control was broken, the Chitauri stopped obeying his commands. The God of Mischief was forced to wade into the fray, fighting alongside the Avengers. None of the others had taken it particularly well, but to her surprise, Clint was the first to accept the change in circumstances. Although, if she thought about it, he was also the one who could best understand what happened to the god. A third blast nearly hit her, so Sy refocused on the battle around her.

       She spun on the ground, folding her wings tightly behind her as she fought with her sword, back to back with the powerful immortal. It had taken some adjusting to fight  _with_  such power, instead of against it. The god's almost never fought with their children, but demigods often fought against gods who didn't like their parents.

       She and Loki fought through the army, but there were a  _lot_  of aliens. And she was the only Avenger on this street. And if she was honest, Loki was nowhere near ready for a fight of this magnitude. He was a norse god; and therefore vulnerable to problems Olympian gods were not. And he was likely still injured from his run in with the Hulk. They continued to retreat down the street, desperately fighting back with everything they had, but the sheer numbers were slowly overwhelming them. Sy kept backing away, her feet stumbling slightly over the fallen debris, and suddenly found herself surrounded and alone.

       She had no place to retreat. Sy blocked and parried and hacked with all she had left. She threw herself into a sloppy tumble forward to avoid a fourth blast. But she was tired, and this time she was too slow. The laser blast landed right in the gap of her armor that was between her back and her right wing; where a section of armor had had been ripped off earlier by one of the Chitauri soldiers.

       She let out a scream and a shock wave blasted the aliens back at least fifty feet. Syrinx blinked in surprise. Loki was looking at her curiously, green eyes narrowed in confusion. She stared back at the god, her eyes wide with shock. She shrugged at him, even as her thoughts whirled back into place in her mind.

_'I didn't know I could do that.'_

* * *

       She raced down the street, killing every alien she met. Every now and then she'd whistle and the aliens near her would collapse. But Sy was running on fumes. Adrenaline can take a demigod only so far, and she had used a lot of energy on her sonic whistles. She had no ambrosia left, no nectar, and no backup; Loki having left in order to defend a different street.

       Glancing up to check on the portal, she watched Tony bounce off his own building, carrying with him a large white missile. He flew it straight into the portal. Sy froze.

_'What in Hades is he doing?'_

* * *

       A few minutes later she knew, knew when she saw the yellow explosion on the other side of the portal. Every Chitauri alien collapsed to the ground an instant later, dead. Sy dropped her sword, using both hands to yank and smooth her damaged feathers into place. Agony tore through her as she forced her wings into flying shape. But she needed to go get him.

       She  _had_  too.

       Syrinx didn't want to lose anybody in the second Battle of Manhattan. She couldn't take that kind of loss anymore. She screamed in pain as she took off, but her wings beat steadily, carrying her up into the air.

       She watched the sky for any sign of life. Soaring higher and higher, even when her back screamed and her feathers bent. She had to find him.

       With an odd sucking noise, the portal began to close. Syrinx began to hum, looking for inspiration. Anything to buy Tony a little more time.

_'Just a few more seconds, just one more moment.'_  She pleaded in her mind as she scanned the skies while her wings beat unsteadily. Tony had to come back through.

       Nothing.

       The portal shut before the blast of the missile could come back through and hit New York.

       A small red streak fell through the air. Tony. She pumped her wings harder, desperately trying to reach him. A loud roar echoed through the burning streets. A blur of green snatched Tony out of the air. The Hulk. Sy nearly cried with relief.

       She unsteadily landed with a stumble next to them, falling to her knees to rip off the mask on his face. Steve gently pushed her out of the way to check his breathing, even as Loki stood quietly to the side, a strange expression on his face. Steve's brow wrinkled as Sy's heart practically stopped in her chest.

       Nothing.

       She sat back on her heels, fighting the rising nausea that accompanies loss. Loki took a step forward, a single hand reaching towards the prone body of Ironman. The Hulk roared into Tony's face. With a gasp, his eyes flew open.

       "What the hell?" He muttered. Sy gasped in relief, her breathing ragged.

       "Thank the gods." She prayed. Hulk roared again, beating his chest in victory.

       "What just happened. Please tell me nobody kissed me. No offense Sy, you're very pretty jailbait, but I've got Pepper. And what is Reindeer Games doing here?" He rambled for a moment. Sy laughed at him, gently smacking his shoulder while Steve looked around at the carnage.

       "We won." He said nodding to himself. Tony nodded, wide eyed.

       "Alright, yay. Alright, good job guys. Let's just not come in tomorrow. Let's just take a day." They all laughed at Tony's antics, and little bit at how crazy it was that they won. He glanced at her.

       "Have you ever tried shawarma? There's a shawarma joint about two blocks from here. I don't know what it is, but I want to try it." Sy laughed as she helped him to sit up carefully.

       "We can try it Tony." Thor frowned a little, as he looked towards his brother, who was standing off to the side awkwardly. Loki looked ready to bolt. Sy smiled at the god sympathetically.

       "We aren't finished yet." The god intoned. Tony groaned.

       "And then shawarma after." He insisted.

       "Shawarma after." Sy agreed with a relieved laugh, even as she kept one eye on the two godly brothers.


	24. Chapter 24

_Sy_

       She stood before the Olympian council. Her wings were folded neatly behind her, even though they were still damaged from the fight. A large bandage covered the burned patches, a splint taped on her right wing. Her arm was in a sling, but her clothing was clean and her hair was neat. She'd helped save the world. Again. The gods really couldn't ask for more.

       "Loki is pardoned of his crimes in the eyes of Olympus, and will be protected under the same agreement as his brother until they return to Asgard. The Tesseract, and the Space Stone it contains, will return to Odin with them. The Mind Stone is to remain on Olympus, where it shall not be able to control another member of the  _Aesir_." Zeus boomed. Sy nodded silently in agreement. The Olympians were around before the stones had been created. They would not be controlled by the stone, and it would be safely out of reach of whoever had been controlling Loki. The trickster god did not know who his puppet master had been, having only interacted with intermediaries during his torture and imprisonment before his half baked invasion of the planet.

       "What of the mortals who await you below?" The king of Olympus asked her. Sy swallowed hard, her wings trembling slightly. This was the risky part.

       "They have fought alongside gods. There is only so much the Mist can hide, and the Norsemen were not hiding. The  _Aesir_  gods did not hide their godhood, and have in fact informed the mortals of their godly origins. The public thinks of them as long lived aliens, but SHIELD, and Nick Fury, know the truth." Sy took a deep breath before drawing on every ounce of her mother's gifts for eloquence before continuing.

       "The Avengers are mortal heroes, like Jason or Odysseus from ancient times. They  _should_  know about Olympus. Especially because I am one of them. A monster is bound to attack sooner or later, and the Mist isn't perfect." The gods looked thoughtful. She fidgeted nervously.

       "Very well. You may remove the Mist from their eyes, and reveal the true nature of our world. We shall spare the fool Fury, for the carnage of New York is extensive; that is consequence enough. You fought well hero. You may go." Sy bowed deeply, relief coursing through her body. She marched out of Olympus, waving briefly at her mom and her aunts before she jumped into the elevator. As she went down she tucked her wings away, hidden from the mortals. The elevator doors opened.

       "So, how did it go?" Tony asked as she stepped out the elevator. She grinned shakily.

       "Well, I lived didn't I?" Steve frowned slightly at that.

       "Would they have killed you?" She shrugged.

       "They voted. If it hadn't gone my way, yeah. I'm really lucky actually. And Fury owes me two life debts now." Natasha and Clint looked surprised.

       "Fury?"

       "Yeah. When he learned about Olympus, the idiot tried to steal ambrosia and nectar from me, and tried to experiment with celestial bronze. He'd spent almost a year and a half gaining my trust, only to stab me right in the back. Not that he understood exactly what the consequences would be at the time. It was a disaster. Zeus almost killed him, but I stopped him. My punishment for slipping up was,  _unpleasant_... to say the least. And I because I survived, I became the official go between for Fury and Olympus. I'm responsible for his actions regarding the gods. That's why Fury brought me in on Loki. He had to, if he didn't want Zeus to crash the helicarrier. Or you know, kill him." They walked out of the lobby of the Empire State Building.

       "That's why you don't like Fury. I just thought you were being a brat." Natasha said in surprise.

       "That's... intense. I don't know if want to be on Fury's good side if that's how you get on it." Tony added. Thor and Loki walked up to them. The elder brother looking absurd in full Asgardian armor, while Loki blended in better in his pressed suit.

       "You have spoken with Lord Zeus?" The god of thunder asked her. She nodded. She glanced at Loki.

       "Full pardon, same diplomatic rules as Thor until you go home. But behave? Zeus isn't in the best of moods, considering that I managed to turn over half his council to my side. I don't want to get blasted. Or feel like my work went to waste." The green eyed trickster god nodded solemnly, but Sy didn't quite trust his agreement, considering the odd gleam she spotted in his eyes. Thor gave her a short nod of appreciation. Sy turned and smiled at the Avengers, changing the subject.

       "So... Tony said something about shawarma?"


	25. Chapter 25

_Epilogue_

       The Avengers, Fury and their guests were seated in an empty Carnegie Hall. On the stage was a spotlight on a single chair, a beautiful Stradivarius violin gleaming under the stage lights. The orchestra filled in, followed by the conductor. The lights dimmed and they settle into their seats.

       The lights followed Sy walking across the stage in a beautiful strapless gown, black fabric sweeping the floor. She took her seat, lifting her violin to her chin. All the orchestra followed. There was a pause, a moment where it was like time froze. Then she began to play.

       The music wrapped around their minds, sinking a deep sense of peace and satisfaction into them. But when the melody twitched, different emotions were pulled from them. It was the greatest display of her power she'd shown any of them aside from the godly brothers. Her body swayed with the music, her eyes closed. Lost to the rhythm.

       It had been a little over a year and a half since the Avengers had formed than disbanded. Tony and Bruce were both living in New York, Tony having dismantled a major terrorist organization that lead to the destruction of his California home. Steve and Natasha had been working SHIELD black ops, Clint went home, wherever that was for him. Thor returned to Earth after battling another alien threat that had destroyed parts of London and moved in with Jane Foster. Loki followed behind him soon afterwards, after claiming to have grown bored of Asgard. Last anyone had heard he'd moved into a condo in Boston, occasionally intimidating the einherjar as he helped 'train' them, by behaving like an enemy to defeat. Sy had been in and out of camp, her apartment and Stark tower, finishing school.

       Tony Stark, after learning that the whole team was actually  _on_  the planet again, had insisted on a reunion, so there they were, Earth's mightiest heroes and the Director of SHIELD come to New York to listen to the youngest Avenger play.

       Two hours later, the Avengers and the SHIELD director were released from the spell of her music. The world could have ended around them, and none of them would have noticed. Sy stood and bowed to the small group of adults, all of whom were standing and clapping wildly.

       When she exited from backstage, they were all waiting for her with a large bouquet of roses.

       "Thank you." Sy said her face glowing. Tony looked around the small group.

       "Ok this is my reunion. I say, shawarma. Tradition and all." Sy rolled her eyes.

       "We went to shawarma  _once_. That's not a tradition." Tony smirked as he dragged her down the busy New York streets.

       "But by going back, we are making it tradition. To shawarma!" He insisted. Sy laughed.

       "To shawarma." She agreed.

**Author's Note:**

> *06/08/2018  
> I've started work on a sequel so keep your eyes peeled for that!
> 
> *07/21/18  
> Sequel is up! Check out Olympus's Soldier on my dashboard!


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